In October 2022, the BCCI announced its intentions to hold a five-team women's franchise cricket tournament in March 2023.[2] 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 [3]Adani Group, the owners of the Gujarat Giants kabaddi team, bought the rights to one of the franchises,[3] 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.[4]
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.[5]
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 replacing her midway through the season.[6]
2023
The first season of the Women's Premier League began on 4th March 2023, with the match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Beth Mooney was injured in their first over of the second innings. She was replaced by Laura Wolvaardt in the squad.
Kim Garth, who was signed as a replacement for the injured Deandra Dottin, became only the second bowler after Tara Norris to pick up a 5-wicket haul in the WPL. She achieved the feat against UP Warriorz.
Ashleigh Gardner was the standout performer for the Gujarat Giants, finishing as their highest run-scorer[7] while also being their second-highest wicket-taker. She scored 204 runs, which included 2 fifties, and took 10 wickets in 8 games. Kim Garth was the highest wicket-taker for the Gujarat Giants with 11 wickets.[8]
Despite strong individual performances, the Giants had a similar run in the second season as they had in the first.
Gujarat Giants played their first game against Mumbai Indians on 25th February. They could only score 126/9 while batting first, and Mumbai chased it down in 18 overs.[10] In their next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, they could only score 107/7, and Bangalore chased it down within 13 overs.[11] In their next match against UP Warriorz, they scored 142/5, and UP chased it down within 16 overs.[12]Meghna Singh picked up 4 wickets against the Delhi Capitals, but the Giants lost by 25 runs.[13]Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney put on a 140-run stand in the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, where Mooney scored 85 in 51 deliveries while Wolvaardt scored 76 in 45 balls. Gujarat won the match by 19 runs.[14] Mooney scored 66 in her next game against Mumbai Indians while Dayalan Hemalatha scored 74 in 40 balls. Gujarat Giants scored 190 for 7 in their 20 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur scored 95 in 48 deliveries and Mumbai Indians won the game by 7 wickets.[15] Mooney registered another 50 in the next game against UP Warriorz. She scored 74 in 52 balls to help the Giants score 152. Shabnam Shakil took 3 wickets for 11 runs and the Giants won the game by 8 runs.[16] In their final league match against Delhi, they scored 126/9 while batting first, and Delhi chased it down in 13 overs.[17]
Beth Mooney finished as the highest run-scorer[18] for the Gujarat Giants, scoring 285 runs in 8 games, while Tanuja Kanwer[19] was the highest wicket-taker[20] with 10 wickets.
