Australian opener Beth Mooney on Monday was named as captain of Gujarat Giants ahead of the inaugural edition of Women’s Premier League while Indian all-rounder Sneh Rana was confirmed as the vice-captain.
Mooney and her team successfully brought home the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2018, 2020 and 2023 along with the Women’s ODI World Cup in 2022 and the Gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Mooney, who has thrice won the Women’s Big Bash League, is one of the few batters in the Women’s T20 to have scored multiple centuries, with two to her name, along with 17 half-centuries. She scored a 74 not out in the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 which earned the player of the match award as Australia won their sixth title.
“I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead the Adani Gujarat Giants in the historic Women’s Premier League’s inaugural edition in 2023,” said Mooney.
“The squad is keen to get the ball rolling soon and put out an entertaining and effective brand of cricket in the debut season of WPL which will hopefully lead us to the trophy. It will be absolutely fantastic to have the likes of Sneh as my deputy and Mithali Raj, Rachael Haynes and Nooshin Al Khadeer as pivotal parts of the team.”
Vice-captain Rana is an off spinner known for her tenacity and providing crucial breakthroughs. She is handy with the bat lower down the order and has experience leading the domestic juggernauts Railways.
The Dehradun born spinner, who has previously turned out for Velocity in the Women’s T20 Challenge, has played 25 games in T20Is and bagged 24 wickets with an economy rate of 6.21.
“Being the vice-captain of the Adani Gujarat Giants is a huge responsibility and I am keenly looking forward to putting up a great show for the debut edition of the Women’s Premier League,” said Rana.
“Along with captain Beth Mooney, I hope to lead a strong and talented squad during the tournament.
Coach Haynes said, “It is great to have the likes of Beth Mooney as our captain and Sneh Rana as the vice-captain. Both players are very well-established, and I expect that the team will put their best foot forward. We are excited for our new innings.”
The Adani Sprotsline-owned Gujarat Giants will be playing their first match on the opening day of the league when they take on the Mumbai Indians on 4 March at 7.30 pm.
Gujarat Giants Squad: Beth Mooney (Captain), Sneh Rana (Vice-Captain), Ashleigh Gardner, Sophia Dunkley, Annabel Sutherland, Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, S Meghana, Georgia Wareham, Mansi Joshi, Dayalan Hemalatha, Monica Patel, Tanuja Kanwer, Sushma Verma, Hurley Gala, Ashwani Kumari, Parunika Sisodia, Shabman Shakil.
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