3 players who can replace Lauren Cheatle at Gujarat Giants for WPL 2024 ft. Alana King
Australia's left-arm seamer Lauren Cheatle has been ruled out for the rest of the season and will also miss the Women's Premier League (WPL) after undergoing a medical procedure for skin cancer on her neck.
Lauren Cheatle was snapped up by the Gujarat Giants for the current WPL season, starting on February 23. She will now miss it as well as the matches that remain in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) for New South Wales. She was in great form in the recent matches and had picked up 11 wickets in the season at an average of 15.45.
Lauren Cheatle made her Test debut for Australia against India last year. She made a comeback to international cricket in 2019 after recovering from a series of shoulder injuries.
Here we take a look at three players who can replace Lauren Cheatle at Gujarat Giants for the WPL:
#3 Tara Norris
Tara Norris was reasonably successful in the first WPL season with the Delhi Capitals, but was not picked up at the auctions last year. She was the sole representative from an Associate nation in the 2023 WPL, and made a mark with a five-wicket haul against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Delhi Capitals had released her ahead of this auction and despite the base value of INR 10 lakh, no franchises bid for her. She could be a good replacement for Gujarat Giants if they want to look for a quality replacement for Lauren Cheatle.
#2 Alana King
Alana King, one of the leading spinners in the world, entered the auction with a base price of INR 30 lakh. However, to everyone’s surprise, she found no team despite being a success story in India when she bowled the Supernovas to victory in the 2022 edition of the now-defunct Women's T20 Challenge. She picked up the wickets of Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, and Radha Yadav, and her command over the googly was very impressive.
The 28-year-old showed great form for Australia in their recent tour of India. Considering her form and impressive performance on Indian pitches, Gujarat could just snap her up in place of Lauren Cheatle. King is now an experienced international cricketer with three Tests, 23 ODIs, and 22 T20Is under her belt and she will give the bowling attack a lot of teeth.
#1 Kim Garth
Australia’s Kim Garth came into the auction with a base price of INR 50 lakh, but surprisingly went unsold. She is a handy all-rounder and was part of Gujarat Giants last season, where she was the leading wicket-taker. Garth picked up 11 wickets in seven games, with her best performance being 5/36.
She is an experienced player for Australia, featuring in 43 ODIs and 57 T20Is, picking up 34 and 47 wickets, respectively.
The 27-year-old is no mug with the bat as well and has two 50s in ODIs and one in T20Is. Considering the balance she could bring to the side, Garth can be apt replacement for Lauren Cheatle.
What could also work in her favor is the fact that she understands the dynamics of the side and can be even better this season for Gujarat. She was also part of the Australian side in their recently concluded tour of India and is well-versed with the Indian conditions – another factor that could work in her favor.