Gujarat Giants vs RCB Women: Shocking Toss Decision & Key Team Changes Revealed!
The Gujarat Giants vs RCB Women clash is set to begin, with Gujarat winning the toss and electing to bowl first. Both teams have made changes to their playing XI for this crucial match in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Toss Update: Gujarat Giants Opt to Bowl
Gujarat Giants Women’s captain Ashleigh Gardner decided to field first. She thinks chasing has been a big advantage in the tournament. RCB Women’s captain Smriti Mandhana noticed the trend. She also feels confident about setting a strong total.
Team Changes and Playing XI
Gujarat Giants Women’s Playing XI
- Beth Mooney (wk)
- Phoebe Litchfield
- Dayalan Hemalatha
- Deandra Dottin
- Ashleigh Gardner (c)
- Harleen Deol
- Bharti Fulmali
- Meghna Singh
- Priya Mishra
- Kashvee Gautam
- Tanuja Kanwar
RCB Women’s Playing XI
- Smriti Mandhana (c)
- Danielle Wyatt
- Ellyse Perry
- Raghvi Anand Bist
- Richa Ghosh (wk)
- Kanika Ahuja
- Georgia Wareham
- Kim Garth
- Sneh Rana
- Renuka Singh Thakur
- Prema Rawat
Captain Statements
Ashleigh Gardner (Gujarat Giants Women’s Captain)
Gardner stressed how crucial powerplays and early wickets are for the match’s tone. She pointed out her team’s batting struggles. She also stressed the need for individual motivation and team discussions.
” We’re going to bowl first. We believe that chasing has been a bit easier throughout this competition, so hopefully, we can take some early wickets and then chase down the target. We spoke about the powerplay—that’s probably the key area we need to capitalize on with the bat.
I feel like the bowlers have done a reasonable job, but we just haven’t had enough runs to work with. Fingers crossed we can take early wickets again tonight and set up the game nicely.
I think when you’re being really vocal, it’s important to stay positive. But it’s also about talking to individuals rather than just addressing the whole group and making good use of the coaching staff. As a player, there’s already a lot on your plate, so it’s about finding the balance—looking after myself as well as the team. Hopefully, if we get that right, the results will take care of themselves.
We have one change today, Hema comes in for Simran.”
Smriti Mandhana (RCB Women’s Captain)
Mandhana said chasing has worked well in the tournament. However, she noted that Bangalore’s pitch is different. She stressed the need to build a strong total. This is crucial after their recent close losses in defense.
“We would have loved to field as well. We have seen a trend in WPL that chasing down the totals have been useful but Bangalore has been different. We’ve been really close in the last 2 matches while defending the total so hopefully we can put up a good total.
It’s very hard to lose the close games. As a captain you would want to lose close games rather than one-sided because you are not that far away. A little bit of a roller coaster ride for us in the last 2 games but all the girls are really calm.
We have few new people in the team who have not experienced this sort of an environment. Fans are always our strength and whenever they cheer RCB that’s something which puts us in a positive frame of mind. It’s the other way. They have been our strength wherever we play.
We have one change, Prema Rawat comes in for Ekta Bisht today.”