On Wednesday, Gujarat Giants named the Australian all-rounder, Ashleigh Gardner, as their captain for the 2025 edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Gardner is a two-time Belinda Clark Award winner and was instrumental in Australia’s gold medal win at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. In the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa, she was named Player of the Tournament.
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She has been an important player at Gujarat Giants since the league started. In the last two eras of WPL, she scored 324 runs and took 17 wickets.
“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,” Gardner said.
The team’s head coach Michael Klinger underlined confidence in Gardner’s captaincy. “She is a fierce competitor; her situational awareness, tactical acumen and ability to provoke enthusiasm in players make her ideally suited to captain Gujarat Giants. We believe she will lead with the thick end of the sword and dovetail actions to contribute to a successful campaign,” he said.
Last season, the team was captained by Beth Mooney. Klinger spoke highly of the former captain: “I would like to extend my appreciation and gratitude to Mooney for her valued leadership. Now she can focus on wicketkeeping and opening the batting. She’s still a huge leader of our group.”
GG will wish their new captain will bring some turnaround in fortunes. The franchise has ended up last on the points table for the last two seasons, winning only four games in total.
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The franchise has also strengthened its squad with four new buys from this mini-auction. They brought in two overseas all-rounders, Deandra Dottin and Danielle Gibson, besides another big purchase of Rs 1.9 crore for uncapped Simran Shaikh and Prakashika Naik.
