Bangalore, February 14, 2024: The Adani Sportsline-owned Gujarat Giants have revealed that Indian all-rounder Sneh Rana will be the team’s deputy captain and that Australian batter Beth Mooney will lead the squad in the upcoming WPL season. Alongside head coach Michael Klinger, assistant coach Nooshin Al Khadeer, and mentor and advisor Mithali Raj, they will form the leadership group.
During the first season of the WPL, Mooney was named captain of the Gujarat Giants. But because of an injury, she was forced to withdraw from the event after the opening match.
In international T20 cricket, Mooney is among the top hitters. She competed for Australia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, won the 2022 ODI World Cup, and was a member of the T20 World Cup winning teams in 2014, 2018, 2020, and 2023. Her debut for Australia did not come until January 2016, even though she was part of the group that won the 2014 T20 World Cup. She was the first-ever ICC T20I Player of the Year and Emerging Player of the Year, which she won in December 2017.
She received Wisden’s top female cricket player award in 2021 and 2022. In T20I cricket, her 24 half-centuries rank second among batters, and she became the first female cricketer to score 2,000 runs in the game’s shortest format.
Sneh Rana is a right-hand batsman and off-break bowler who is regarded as one of India’s best players. She debuted in Test matches against England in 2021 as well as in ODIs and T20Is against Sri Lanka in 2014. She took six wickets in seven innings as the Gujarat Giants’ captain in the inaugural WPL season after Mooney was injured. She competed for India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and was a member of the winning team.
“I am happy to be back with the Gujarat Giants and appreciative of their faith in me.” We have an amazing team, and I have no doubt that we will perform well. The WPL’s new venues in Bengaluru and New Delhi are excellent additions to the competition, according to Mooney.
“The WPL’s second season promises to be yet another cricket extravaganza. I’m thrilled that Beth is returning as skipper, and I’ll do everything in my power to help her.
We are doing well as a team, and the squad is well-balanced,” Sneh Rana remarked.
As team leaders, Beth Mooney and Rana are legends, and Adani Sportsline is thrilled to have them on the squad. We take great pride in being connected to the WPL, which has played a significant role in cricket history. The top players in the game are collaborating to achieve glory, and I have no doubt that this will show on the pitch, according to Adani Sportsline CBO Sanjay Adesara.
Gujarat Giants’ season will begin on February 25 against the Mumbai Indians at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.