3 pressing concerns for GG Women ahead of WPL 2024

The Gujarat Giants (GG) will become the last team to commence their 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL) campaign when they lock horns with the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, February 25.

The Giants endured a miserable campaign last year. Captain Beth Mooney injured herself early in the season as the franchise crumbled to a last-place finish, with just two wins to their name in eight matches.

Mooney has been retained as the skipper despite Sneh Rana doing a decent job after taking over in WPL 2023. However, the Aussie's task won't be easy since Gujarat have plenty of issues on their roster that weren't fixed at the auction.

GG's squad for WPL 2024: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney (c), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam MD, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Trisha Poojitha, Sayali Satghare, Priya Mishra, Kathryn Bryce, Mannat Kashyap, Veda Krishnamurthy, Tarannum Pathan, Lea Tahuhu.

Here are three pressing concerns for GG ahead of WPL 2024.

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#3 GG's domestic players aren't the best ones available

GG's Indian contingent was undoubtedly the weakest among all teams in WPL 2023, and things don't seem much different this time around.

Harleen Deol, Dayalan Hemalatha, Meghna Singh, and Veda Krishnamurthy aren't in the Indian picture right now. Meanwhile, Sneh Rana and Mannat Kashyap have been in and out of the national side.

Gujarat don't have a single Indian player in their ranks who is a regular across formats at the international level. And in a tournament like the WPL, which has just five teams, that's a damning reflection of how their roster has been constructed.

This lack of quality is bound to cost them in WPL 2024.

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#2 The Giants are short on quality fast bowlers

Lea Tahuhu bowls: New Zealand v Pakistan - Women's ODI Game 1

After Lauren Cheatle pulled out of WPL 2024 due to medical reasons, Lea Tahuhu was roped in by GG to bolster their seam-bowling lineup. However, even after the Kiwi's addition, their pace stocks are thin.

Meghna Singh and Tahuhu are the only frontline options on the roster, while all-rounders Kathryn Bryce and Sayali Satgahre can also contribute. Needless to say, that's not nearly enough pedigree and experience to compete with the other four teams in the league.

After releasing the likes of Monica Patel, Mansi Joshi, and Annabel Sutherland, GG haven't been able to secure capable replacements.

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#1 GG are very top-heavy

Phoebe Litchfield will be GG's lynchpin in WPL 2024

GG's premier overseas players, Phoebe Litchfield and Beth Mooney, will ideally bat at the top of the order in WPL 2024. Laura Wolvaardt will probably struggle to make the XI, but if she does, she too will be part of the top three, at worst.

While that is good for the Giants in the powerplay, it leaves them vulnerable in the middle overs and at the death. Harleen and Hemalatha showed promise in the last edition of the WPL, but there are still concerns over the strike rate of the former and the latter hasn't played a high standard of cricket recently.

The addition of Krishnamurthy doesn't help much, and Ash Gardner could have way too much on her plate in the middle order. If oppositions can prise out Mooney and Litchfield early, GG will be in all sorts of trouble.