After massive success in Indian Premier League (IPL), BCCI finally created a franchise league for women's cricketers. Five franchises (Bengaluru, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mumbai) have been already announced. Adani Group of Gautam Adani managed to win the rights of the Ahmedabad franchise after bidding a huge sum of Rs 1289 crore. The franchise has been named Gujarat Giants. Despite a slow start in the inaugural auction, they had a good finish to with lot of domestic buys. They spent Rs 11.95 crore from the purse and completed the entire slot of 18 players with 12 Indians and 6 overseas players.

Gujarat have roped in former Australian cricketer Rachael Haynes as the head coach. Meanwhile, Nooshin Al Khadeer and Tushar Arothe have joined as bowling and batting coach. Last but not the least, Indian cricket legend, Mithali Raj will be the team's mentor and advisor.

Gujarat Giants Full Squad for WPL 2023:

Sophia Dunkley, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, Annabel Sutherland, Sabbhineni Meghana, Sushma Verma, Sneh Rana, Hurley gala, Ashwani Kumari, Georgia Wareham, Mansi Joshi, Dayalan Hemalatha, Tanuja Kanwar, Monica Patel. Shanam Md Shakil, Parunika Sisodia.

With the presence of Mithali Raj and Nooshin Al Khadeer in the thinktank, Gujarat Giants have shown a lot of domestic scouting prowess and picked up players accordingly along with overseas stars who can add value in a T20 team. Some experienced but slightly overlooked domestic Indian players are also part of the squad. The challenge will be to settle to a combination and field the best XI on the field as the season starts.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 13, 2023 09:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).