Women's Premier League: Gujarat Giants SWOT analysis, schedule for WPL 2024

Gujarat Giants, the team that missed their skipper Beth Mooney and could not see their star players like Sneh Rana and Ashleigh Garnder perform the way they would have liked, finished at the bottom of the points table in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).  

They were marred by the controversy of West Indian player Deandra Dottin not being allowed to play in the IPL. With the start of the fresh season where their skipper is back, the Giants would look to put the past on the back burner and begin a fresh season with a newer perspective. 

Strength 

The strength of the Giants is their experienced players. In India’s Rana, Australians Mooney and Garnder and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt, they have an experienced quartet which has played a lot of cricket at the highest level. They also have Veda Krishnamurthy and Harleen Deol as Indian players who have played at the highest level. 

Gujarat Giants WPL 2024 Schedule

Match No.	Date	Day	Match	Time (IST)	Venue
1	February 25, 2024	Sunday	Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians	19:30	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
2	February 27, 2024	Tuesday	Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants	19:30	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
3	March 1, 2024	Thursday	UP Warriors vs Gujarat Giants	19:30	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
4	March 3, 2024	Sunday	Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals	19:30	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
5	March 6, 2024	Wednesday	Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers	19:30	Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
6	March 9, 2024	Saturday	Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants	19:30	Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
7	March 11, 2024	Monday	Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriors	19:30	Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi
8	March 13, 2024	Wednesday	Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat	19:30	Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

Weakness

The weakness of the Giants is the presence of a genuine finisher. In Gardner and Veda, they have two players who can go hard and so can Rana, but they are not pure batters, Kashveen Gautam, who they bought for a whopping Rs 2 crore, has been ruled out and thus their batting looks a bit troubled. 

Opportunity

Rana has always remained in the shows of big Indian performers. She has the skills of batting and bowling but has not reached the height her potential demands her to. It is an opportunity for Railways women to become the MVP of the team and under the guidance of her all-time mentor Mithali Raj, lift yet another trophy. 

Gujarat Giants player and their salary
Player name	Salary (rupees)
Sayali Satghare	10 Lakh
Phoebe Litchfield	1 Crore
Meghna Singh	30 Lakh
Veda Krishnamurthy	30 lakh
Lauren Cheatle	30 lakh
Priya Mishra	20 Lakh
Trisha Poojitha	10 Lakh
Kathryn Bryce	10 Lakh
Mannat Kashyap	10 Lakh
Tarannum Pathan	10 Lakh
Ashleigh Gardner	3.2 Crore
Beth Mooney	2 Crore
Dayalan Hemalatha	30 lakh
Harleen Deol	40 Lakh
Laura Wolvaardt	30 lakh
Shabnam Shakil	10 Lakh
Sneh Rana	75 Lakh
Tanuja Kanwer	50 Lakh

Threat

The biggest threat for the Giants would be their underconfidence. They have all talented players, but the big names of Indian cricket like the Smriti Mandhanas, Jemiamh Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaurs are not on their roster. In terms of Aussie or world talent, they don’t have huge names like other teams do. 

They have spent far too much on players that are yet to become household names and thus they can come under pressure and get underconfident. This could be their journey from underconfidence to shining under pressure that could get them the trophy this year.