With Gujarat Giants going down to Mumbai Indians in their final league Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 encounter, the Giants finished their regular season campaign with a 9-run loss but have confirmed their place in the Playoffs, wrapping out an average regular season for the Giants with four wins and four losses from their eight league games.
Chasing 180 in their league game against hosts Mumbai Indians, the Giants were in heaps of trouble as Hayley Matthews and Amelia Kerr put the Giants in a spot of bother at 70/5 in the 11th over. That’s when the Giants lower order batter Bharti Fulmali came in and smashed a whirlwind 61 from 25 balls, staging a remarkable turnaround, but her knock fell inches short of getting her team over the line.
Post the match, Fulmali spoke about her innings, mindset and what lies ahead for the Giants, having made it to the Playoffs. She also spoke about entering the ground to bat with her team having lost half the side and what the mindset was at the time to get the team over the line.
“When I went to the crease, DD (Deandra Dottin) was there and the run rate was a bit too high, but I knew that if DD and I stayed till the end, we would cross the line. But unfortunately, DD lost her wicket and then that responsibility came onto me, and I knew I had to strike,” said Fulmali.
The batter hailing from Amravati is one of the most explosive in the tournament, striking at 180.70 this season. She shared insight about her hard-hitting approach and how it works.
“(Hard hitting) is my natural game, I have always practiced on that because I’ve been given a very clear role in the team, which is that I come in at No.5/6 and have to finish the game. In that situation, you can’t play dot balls or deal in singles and doubles. So that’s my practice and I have to implement that practice in the ground also and that’s what I did and it’s my strength,” shared Fulmali.
She added, “Whenever there is talk, they’ve always told me to play my natural game, no restrictions. They just ask me to go ahead and hit from the first ball, they have given me the full license. I just go and try that.”
The Giants might have gone down to the Mumbai Indians in their final league game but a third-place finish in the table means that they have made it to the Playoffs and will battle it out in the Eliminator first.
“Our team atmosphere is very good, the batting lineup is good, everything is set. We will carry this momentum ahead and we have the Eliminator next and then the Finals, so we just need to carry this momentum ahead and play well,” signed off Fulmali.
(Quotes sourced from video posted by WPLT20 on Instagram)
