The Adani Gujarat Giants enthralled us all with their promising performance throughout the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League, which is currently ongoing in Mumbai. However, owing to some injuries during the initial matches led the Giants to fall short in the race for a berth during the knockout stages of the historic tournament.

Talking about her debut stint as a head coach, for the Adani Gujarat Giants' team, Rachael Haynes, says, “This was certainly, an exciting and enriching experience for me as head coach for such a wonderful team. Undoubtedly, we had our tough moments, but the team put up a riveting performance and showed a lot of character during every match. We all are taking with us many positives and pivotal life-lessons from this inaugural session.”

Haynes further adds, “As we take a step back and take a moment to pause and reflect at the season, it does hurt to lose out on key players before the end of the first game, and shuffling the deck in terms of playing combinations was not an easy decision, but this allowed every player to showcase their potential and we are happy about it.”

Former captain of the India women's national cricket team, Mithali Raj, and mentor for the Adani Gujarat Giants believe that there was a hunger to succeed, despite the setbacks.

“Honestly, we did put up a good team, but the results were not in our favour and the season didn’t go our way. We lost key players early on, and it dented our composition. But despite this hiccup the team stepped up and showed their grit and passion to win,” says Mithali Raj.

Nooshin Al Khadeer, bowling coach for the Adani Gujarat Giants, says, “I understand it has been tough for the bowlers but there are various factors that need to be factored in. The boundaries were shortened, and the pitches were batter-friendly, at least in the first leg of the tournament. But despite these obstacles, our bowlers have done a commendable job. It has been a roller-coaster journey and overall, as a team, there have been good performances. We won against the Delhi Capitals, which was expected to be a one-sided match, we scored over 200 runs against the RCB in the first leg. We have had brilliant performances individually and as a team as well.”

Although the beginning of WPL’s debut edition was not the way the Adani Gujarat Giants would have liked, the intent to support women’s sporting ecosystem is loud and clear. Satyam Trivedi, Head, Adani Sportsline, says, “This was the first commercial franchise format for us in women’s sport and we were thrilled about it. Not just on-ground but even the support staff team was fantastic.”

“We are committed to our goal of promoting and developing talent at the grassroots level and will continuously work towards it. This is just the beginning of an exciting journey ahead. WPL is a great platform for all these young talents to showcase their potential and I urge the fans of Adani Gujarat Giants to support them, cheer for them, and make this sport even a phenomenon, globally,” he further adds.