The Ahmedabad-based Women's Premier League's (WPL) team, Gujarat Giants have announced the Australian legend Rachael Haynes as their head coach for the inaugural edition. Haynes will be assisted by India's Under-19 T20 World Cup winning coach Nooshin al Khadeer who has been appointed as team's bowling coach while Tushar Arothe has been roped in as batting coach.
These troika of coaches will join which will be headed by Mithali Raj, a women's cricket legend, who is the team's mentor.
“The likes of Rachael Haynes, Nooshin Al Khadeer, Tushar Arothe, and Gavan Twining will certainly take the performance of the team notches up," Mithali said in a statement.
“Not only have they carved a niche for themselves in their roles, but their stories of resilience will be an inspiration for the team. Their combined strengths will enable Adani Sportsline’s Gujarat Giants to give their best performance on the ground at the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League, which will inspire several aspiring women athletes," she added.
Haynes, in her illustrious which lasted for a decade, won six world championships with the Australian team and was the vice-captain of the side from 2017-2022. The left-handed batter, who was an integral part of the very successful national set-up, is a veteran of 84 T20Is and played crucial roles in the Australian team’s championship winning campaigns at the 2018 and 2020 T20 World Cups.
She was part of Australia’s team that won the 2022 ODI World Cup and announced her retirement last September.
“The Women’s Premier League is such an exciting addition to the cricket landscape. The opportunity to be involved in the inaugural season with the Adani Sportline owned Gujarat Giants and work with the brilliant Mithali Raj is something I’m really looking forward to. We have formed a wonderful coaching team, with Nooshin Al Khadeer, Tushar Arothe and Gavan Twining, who will be bringing on board their rich experience which will help the team to play an exciting brand of cricket which our fans will enjoy watching” Haynes said.
Meanwhile, the Adani Group broke banks at the auction held by the BCCI on and bought the Ahmedabad franchise Gujarat Giants for a whopping Rs 1289 crores. Meanwhile, the players' auction is expected to be held in February while the WPL will be played between March 4 to March 26 (tentative dates) just before the start of Men's IPL.
