After having a team in the Legends League Cricket (LLC) and Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), the Adani Group have now invested in a Women’s Premier League (WPL) team. Gujarat Giants will be representing the Gujarat team in WPL 2023.
Gujarat have made some stellar international additions to their side and have some very experienced players in the middle. All these players will be adding a lot of value to the team and Gujarat Giants look extremely formidable on paper.
They also have Mithali Raj as their mentor and this is one of the biggest strengths of the team. Raj is a former Indian skipper and undoubtedly, one of the best cricketers ever produced by India. She has truckloads of experience in her kitty and she will be helping the team by her tactics and strategies.
In this article, we plot a SWOT analysis of the Gujarat Giants team in the upcoming WPL 2023:
Strength
The presence of international stars is the biggest strength of Gujarat Giants. During the WPL 2023 auction, the think-tank of Gujarat got hold of the services of some superb international players, who have played T20 franchise cricket all across the globe.
Some of them include Beth Mooney, Sophie Dunkley, Annabel Sutherland, Deandra Dottin and Ashleigh Gardner.
Weakness
The absence of Indian experienced players in their ranks could well act as an impediment. While Gujarat Giants focused on acquiring foreign stars, they didn’t get hold of many Indian stars. In a WPL game, the Indian players form the core of the team and they will be the most important members in the team.
Plus, if the international stars have to leave for international duty, it becomes extremely tough to fill up their void. But this is certainly not the case with Indian players.
Opportunities
Some big opportunities lie for the likes of Monical Patel, Parunika Sisodia and Mansi Joshi. If they can impress with their good performances in WPL 2023, then they can well be considered as long-term options in the Indian cricket team.
Threat
Gujarat Giants would be hoping that their Indian players with decent experience like Harleen Deol and Sneh Rana, don’t get injured. If they aren’t fit before a game, then it will become extremely tough to replace them in the starting XI.
Squad
Sophia Dunkley, Sabbineni Meghana, Ashleigh Gardner, Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, Annabel Sutherland, Sneh Rana, Georgia Wareham, Mansi Joshi, Dayalan Hemalatha, Tanuja Kanwer, Hurley Gala, Ashwani Kumar, Beth Mooney, Sushma Verma, Monica Patel, Parunika Sisodia, Shabnam Shakeel
Predicted Playing XI
Sabbineni Meghana, Beth Mooney, Sophia Dunkley, Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Annabel Sutherland, Mansi Joshi, Tanuja Kanwar, Monica Patel
