Wikipedia - Gujarat Giants (WPL)

The Gujarat Giants are an Indian women's cricket team that compete in the Women's Premier League (WPL), based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The team is owned by Adani Sportsline, part of Adani Group. The team is coached by Michael Klinger and captained by Beth Mooney.

History

In October 2022, the BCCI announced its intentions to hold a five-team women's franchise cricket tournament in March 2023. The tournament was named the Women's Premier League in January 2023, with investors buying the rights to franchises through a closed bidding process. The Adani Group, the owners of the Gujarat Giants kabaddi team, bought the rights to one of the franchises., which they would go on to also call Gujarat Giants.

The inaugural player auction for the WPL was held on 13 February 2023, with Gujarat Giants signing 18 players for their squad. Beth Mooney was appointed captain, but an injury in their very first game led to Sneh Rana replacing her as captain for the rest of the tournament. The side finished bottom of the group stage at the inaugural tournament.

In December 2023, Gujarat Giants acquired 10 players in the WPL Auction, which included Kashvee Gautam, Lauren Cheatle, Phoebe Litchfield, and Veda Krishnamurthy. However, before the tournament began, Lauren Cheatle and Kashvee Gautam were both ruled out due to injury. Lea Tahuhu and Sayali Satghare were their respective replacements.

In February 2024, Michael Klinger took over as the head coach of Gujarat Giants, replacing Rachael Haynes. Gujarat Giants began the second season of the WPL with a loss to Mumbai Indians and once again ended up at the bottom of the table. During the tournament, Harleen Deol got injured, leading to Bharti Fulmali stepping in to replace her midway through the season.