The Inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League was a huge success, playing a crucial role in the rise of women’s cricket in the country. All the teams retained a few players, while Gujarat Giants were a side that released the most number of players before the auction, clearly indicating a squad revamp ahead of the 2nd edition.
We witnessed a few intriguing bidding wars in the auctions with the teams investing heavily in a few rising stars. The Giants invested heavily in Phoebe Litchfield, Kashvee Gautam, etc. However, they have suffered a huge blow ahead of the 2nd edition of the WPL as the Australian pacer Lauren Cheatle is ruled out of the 2nd edition of the WPL.
Now, we will look at the three players who could replace Lauren Cheatle for the Gujarat Giants.
Three Players who can replace Lauren Cheatle:
Kim Garth (Australia)
The 27-year-old Australian pace bowling all-rounder was a part of the Melbourne Stars in the 9th edition of the WBBL. She picked up 9 wickets at a strike rate of 33.88 and an average of 33.66 in 14 innings for the Melbourne Stars. She was also a part of the Australian side that toured India in December 2023. She picked up 3 wickets with the ball and scored 32 runs with the bat across two innings in a one-off Test match. She picked up three wickets and scored 11 runs in the white-ball series against India. She also had an impressive outing with the ball in the 1st ODI of the ongoing white-ball series against South Africa.
She came in as a replacement for the former West Indian all-rounder Deandra Dottin. She had an immediate impact as she was the leading wicket-taker with the ball and the 6th highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 11 wickets to her name at a strike rate of 13.63 and an average of 17.54 in 7 innings. She was the stand-out performer for Gujarat Giants in the bowling department throughout the inaugural edition of the WPL. Her best performance with the ball came on 5th March 2023 When she returned with brilliant match figures (5/36) in her spell against the UP Warriorz. The franchise released her and went unsold during the WPL 2024 auctions. However, with Lauren Cheatle being ruled out of the tournament, Kim Garth could return to the squad for the Gujarat Giants for the 2nd edition of the Women’s Premier League.
Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand)
The veteran white-ferns pacer picked up 5 wickets with the ball in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan. Her best performance in the series came on 18th December 2023 when she returned with match figures (2/30) in her spell in the 3rd ODI. She also picked up 10 wickets at a strike rate of 17.40 and an average of 16 in 8 innings for Canterbury Magicians in the Women’s Super Smash. She has been a leading wicket-taker with the ball in the ODI format for New Zealand with 109 wickets in 92 innings. Her tally of wickets includes three four-wicket hauls and one five-wicket haul. In the T20I format, she is the 2nd highest wicket-taker with 78 wickets to her name at a strike rate of 18.9 and an average of 19.05 in 79 innings.
Nicola Carey (Australia)
The 30-year-old pace-bowling all-rounder picked up 12 wickets at a strike rate of 21.58 in 10 innings. Her best performance with the ball came on 17th November 2023 when she returned with match figures (3/32) in her spell against the Melbourne Stars. Apart from her exploits with the ball, she also scored 173 runs with the bat at a strike rate of 108.80 in 9 innings. She picked up 9 wickets in 9 innings for Tasmania. Apart from her exploits with the ball, she also scored 418 runs at a strike rate of 86.36 an impressive average of 46.44 in 10 innings. She was the 6th highest run-scorer of the tournament. Her tally of runs includes a couple of half-centuries and a century. Her best performance with the bat came on 12th December 2023 when she scored 113 runs at a strike rate of 90.40 against South Australia.