We are less than a week away from the curtain-raiser of another blockbuster season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). In the inaugural encounter, Gujarat Giants will take on defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Vadodara Cricket Stadium.
After enduring two forgettable seasons in 2023 and 2024, the Giants will aim to turn things around in the third season. Led by their new skipper, Ashleigh Gardner, the team in orange has bolstered its squad with 4 new signings and will shoot to imprint a legacy in an electrifying ecosystem.
Gujarat Giants WPL 2025 Auction picks:
Deandra Dottin – Base price Rs 50 lakh | Secured at Rs 1.70 crore
Simran Shaikh – Base price Rs 10 lakh | Secured at Rs 1.90 crore
Danielle Gibson – Base price Rs 30 lakh | Secured at Rs 30 lakh
Prakashika Naik – Base price Rs 10 lakh | Secured at Rs 10 lakh
Here’s the SWOT Analysis of Gujarat Giants:
Strengths:
The biggest strength of the team lies in its scary opening pair. Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney form a rock-solid pair for the Gujarat Giants in 2025. South Africa’s Wolvaardt possesses an aggressive stroke-play which will blend seamlessly with a well-paced innings from Australia’s Beth Mooney. The ever-consistent Beth is in hot form leading up to the WPL and could deliver her best performances with the bat this season.
Applauding the newly appointed captain, head coach Michael Klinger, said, “She is a fierce competitor. Her game awareness, tactical acumen, and ability to inspire players make her the ideal choice to captain Gujarat Giants. We believe she will lead from the front and guide the team towards a successful campaign.”
In the WPL so far, Gardner has stockpiled 324 runs and claimed 17 wickets with the ball in hand. Gardner has become one of the superstars in world cricket since making her international debut in 2017. Her T20I stats—95 matches, more than 1,400 runs, and 78 wickets with her off-spin—seem out of this world. She also played a key role in Australia’s gold medal-winning campaign in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, contributing significantly to their supremacy in women’s cricket.
Her reputation as a match-winner was further solidified in 2023 when she was elected as the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup in South Africa. The Giants hopped for a big hitter in the form of Deandra Dottin for a whopping Rs.1.70 crore and could well hold their hopes on the West-Indian player to do justice to the amount spent under the hammer.
Weaknesses:
Gujarat Giants are heavily dependent on their overseas players to fire in multiple games. They’ve banked on experienced players but do not have potent backups who could fill in the big shoes. The team’s considerable reliance on foreign players may create a potential weakness, as depending on overseas talent can lead to difficulties if the international players have trouble finding their form. Developing the right strategy for an inexperienced pace bowling attack may well be a challenge for the team going ahead in 2025.
Opportunities:
Cricket throws up some breathtaking inspirational stories that are and should grab the headlines. Simran Shaikh, a resident of Asia’s largest slum Dharavi was bought by Gujarat Giants for 1.90 crore and became the most-expensive buy of 2025. As young talented cricketers who aim to make it count big in life- an opportunity is all that is required.
If the raw product gets a finishing school in intense-competitive cricket, you may well find more players who could break into the international circuit. The idea has no shortcomings but just pure profits in the longer run captain Gardner will enjoy a new stint in the WPL and look to go hard to erase the horrendous performance of his team and make a comeback to remember.
On her appointment, she said, “It is an absolute honour for me to be named the captain of Gujarat Giants. I have loved being a part of this team and I am excited to lead this fantastic group in the upcoming season. We have a great mix of young and experienced players and plenty of Indian talent in our squad. I am looking forward to working with the team and making our fans proud.”
Threats:
In a tournament that had its inception to showcase and hone young Indian talent, excessive reliance on overseas picks could turn out to be a double-edged sword. There would likely be mental scars for a team that has won just four games across two seasons, finishing last on the table both times, and they would hope that a change in captaincy can bring about a shift in fortune.
Gujarat Giants WPL 2025 Squad:
Ashleigh Gardner (C), Beth Mooney, Dayalan Hemalatha, Simran Shaikh, Deandra Dottin, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Tanuja Kanwer, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Kashvee Gautam, Priya Mishra, Mannat Kashyap, Bharti Fulmali, Sayali Satghare, Danielle Gibson, Prakashika Naik
Gujarat Giants WPL 2025 Fixtures:
February 14: Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Vadodara
February 16: Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz, Vadodara
February 18: Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians, Vadodara
February 25: Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals, Bengaluru
February 27: Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Bengaluru
March 3: Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz, Lucknow
March 7: Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals, Lucknow
March 10: Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians, Mumbai
March 13: Eliminator, Mumbai
March 15: Final, Mumbai
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