3 things that went wrong for Gujarat Giants in WPL 2024
Gujarat Giants ended last in the league stage in the inaugural edition of the WP last year, winning two of their eight games. They were unlucky as captain Beth Mooney got injured while batting in the first game and was ruled out of the tournament.
Gujarat Giants would have hoped for better fortunes in the ongoing season. However, it has been a case of déjà vu, as they again find themselves on the verge of finishing last in the league stage of WPL 2024. After seven games, they have only four points, winning two and losing five games
Even if GG beat Delhi Capitals in their last league match of WPL 2024 on Wednesday, they are unlikely to finish above UP Warriorz in the points table. UPW have six points and a net run rate of -0.371, while GG’s run rate is -0.873.
With Gujarat Giants being officially eliminated from the WPL 2024 playoffs race, we look back at three things that went wrong for them.
#1 Gujarat Giants were disastrous in the first half of the league stage
Some sporting sides are known for being slow starters. However, it's next to impossible for a team to make a comeback in a competition featuring eight league games after losing all their games in the first half. That's exactly what happened with Gujarat Giants as they took way too long to find their first win.
GG began WPL 2024 with a five-wicket loss to defending champions Mumbai Indians. They were then hammered by Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight wickets and UP Warriorz by six wickets. Gujarat Giants lost four out of four when Delhi Capitals beat them by 25 runs.
GG have won two of their last three games, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 19 runs and UP Warriorz by eight runs.
However, a tournament where teams need at least eight points to finish in the top-three, Gujarat were always waging a losing battle after their disastrous start to WPL 2024.
It did not help that they went down to Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in the Delhi leg of the league stage.
#2 It was too late by the time Beth Mooney hit form
Gujarat Giants captain Mooney is the third-leading run-getter in WPL 2024. In seven games, she has smashed 285 runs at an average of 57 and a strike rate of 144.67, with three half-centuries. But Mooney’s numbers are a perfect illustration of the fact that statistics can, at times, be misleading.
The Australian batter did not register a single score of note in her team’s first four games, and it was no coincidence that Gujarat lost all four outings. Mooney had scores of 24, 8, 16 and 12 in her first four innings in WPL 2024. In her last three innings, the GG captain has led from the front, hammering as many half-centuries.
Mooney scored 85* off 51 against RCB and followed it up with 66 and 74 against Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz, respectively. However, with all due to respect to the Gujarat Giants captain, her impressive performances in the last three games have been a case of too little too late.
#3 They put together a weak side at the auction
GG’s WPL 2024 season was perhaps bound to be doomed, as they did not pick a strong side at the auction. As a result, they have been heavily dependent on only a few players. While Mooney (285) is the leading run-getter for the franchise, no other batter has touched 200 runs.
Opener Laura Wolvaardt is second on the list of leading run-scorers for the team, with 160 runs from five innings, followed by Dayalan Hemalatha (111 runs from six innings).
Among the others, Ashleigh Gardner has 108 runs in seven innings, Phoebe Litchfield 87 in seven, Harleen Deol 48 in three and Veda Krishnamurthy 22 in four.
The story is slightly better in the bowling department, but there has been no standout performance as such, barring Shabnam Shakil’s 3-11 against UPW.
Tanuja Kanwar has picked up eight wickets, Gardner seven, Meghna Singh five and Kathryn Bryce four. Gujarat Giants seriously need to have a relook at their squad ahead of the WPL 2025 season.