WPL | Gujarat Giants squad for Women’s Premier League 2023

02/13/2023

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The star duo of Rachael Haynes and Mithali Raj will be in focus in Mumbai as they would be heading the Giants’ think-tank during the bidding wars. The franchise would hope for an announcement to the world stage as spectacular as the men managed last year, starting with a successful auction.

Two of the all-time greats in women’s cricket, Rachel Haynes and Mithali Raj, would be working as the Gujarat Giants’ head coach and mentor respectively as they made the first real decisions in the role by attempting to pull off the pre-decided strategies at the WPL auction on Monday. The duo were well aided by bowling coach Nooshin Al Khadeer, batting coach Tushar Arothe, and fielding coach Gavan Twining in the bidding for a total of 246 Indians and 163 foreigners up for signing.

The Giants made a big splash with their first buy as they got the in-form Ashleigh Gardner for a whopping INR 3.2 crores. The Aussie star has been stupendous with both bat and ball since the Commonwealth Games last year which helped her end up as the second most expensive buy on a historic day. The Adani-owned franchise did not stop there, however, recruiting Gardner's compatriot Beth Mooney for a reasonable ₹2 crores given her lofty standards with the bat.

England's Sophia Dunkley would also represent the Gujarat-based franchise, for a price of ₹60 lakhs, as will Australian all-rounder Annabel Sutherland (₹70 lakhs) and Harleen Deol (₹40 lakhs). West Indian Deandra Dottin, belonging to a rare breed of aggressive top-order batters who can also open the bowling, was the next to join the Giants' ranks for ₹60 lakhs. The team's most expensive buy amongst the Indians was Sneh Rana, largely because of her marked improvement in her off-spin in recent times which culminated in several match-winning performances for the Women in Blue.

The Giants were involved in a minor mix-up during the auction when they bid for Mahika Gaur several times, only to be eventually informed they had fulfilled their international quota with four Australians, an English woman and a Caribbean player respectively. Nevertheless, the team moved past the embarrassing moment with a slew of Indian picks towards the end of the auction, ending with a full 18-player squad while still having INR 5 lakh left in their kitty.