Mumbai, Dec 8 (IANS): With INR 5.95 crores, Gujarat Giants have the highest remaining purse among all franchises ahead of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction, to be held on Saturday. At the same time, they need to fill the most number of slots (10) and former India cricketer WV Raman believes the side will be eyeing to rope in two fast-bowlers.
“Their retentions suggest that they’ve banked on batters taking them along. In this kind of competition, be it WPL or IPL, the foreigners are required either to generate pace or to hit fast bowlers. But what’s happened here is that they’ve let go of all their fast bowlers.”
“For instance, (Annabel) Sutherland was let go and she’s a very good all-rounder, I thought that was a surprise. And now they’ve got to look for two fast bowlers and they need a couple of Indian batters and spinners as well,” said Raman on JioCinema.
Gujarat finished at the bottom of the five-team competition and released 11 players ahead of the auction, indicating that they are trying to build their team from scratch. Former India captain Anjum Chopra believes they need a quality overseas pacer and feels former South Africa speedster Shabnim Ismail can be the apt person.
“Annabel Sutherland was an integral part of the team, especially when Beth Mooney got injured, and Sushma Verma came into the picture. I’m surprised they released her (Verma) as well because she was the backup wicketkeeper and the base of the team. I get a feeling that they’re trying to rebuild the team while keeping resources.”
“Amount has been added but why spend extra if it is not required? That balance will be tested as well. I’m not too worried about Sutherland because they’re looking for an out-and-out seam bowler. I’ll not be surprised if they go hard after Shabnim Ismail. She’s a regular feature who can bend her back and bowl, and a mix-and-match 50-50 kind of a cricketer.”
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore have a purse of INR 3.35 crores and are aiming to fill seven slots, three of which are overseas. Anjum feels the franchise releasing Australia pacer Megan Schutt came as a huge surprise and that her countrymate Annabel Sutherland can be a good option.
“Releasing Megan Schutt was a little surprising. They relied on her but she didn’t find the going very comfortable, especially towards the end. They might be looking at Sutherland coming in because, for sure, they’ll be getting Heather Knight and Ellyse Perry to play.”
“So another all-rounder as an option, Sutherland will be a good addition to this lineup with Smriti Mandhana. They need an out-and-out fast bowler. If you have the option to build your squad around a fast bowler who can bat as well, they can look at that.”
Raman believes Bangalore will not bid for a player they released and that they need bowlers in their line-up who can pose a challenge to Indian batters. “I don’t think so, because they wouldn’t have released them in the first place. I think what they’re looking for is an Indian batter. It could be Veda Krishnamurthy to add the local flavour.”
“They’ll also be looking at a left-arm spinner because they need bowlers who can provide some variations and they need a real pacer there in their lineup. They need someone to rattle the Indian batters in the opposing camps, so that’s what they’re looking for. They also need a backup spinner and pacer.”