3 reasons why Kashvee Gautam being ruled out of WPL 2024 is a massive blow to Gujarat Giants 

Gujarat Giants have been hit with a huge blow ahead of the 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL), as they have lost the services of emerging player Kashvee Gautam. The franchise announced Sayali Sathgare as a replacement player on Monday, February 19.

Gautam was one of the highlights of the WPL auction as she attracted the highest bid for an uncapped player. Gujarat, aiming for a rebuild after their bottom-placed finish in the inaugural auction, acquired the youngster for a whopping sum of ₹2 crore.

The franchise, who have already announced Beth Mooney as their captain for the second season, have undergone a hoard of changes in terms of player personnel as well as backroom staff. The side recently appointed Michael Klinger as their new head coach, and are desperately looking for a turnaround in their fortunes following a forgettable first season.

The injury to Kashvee Gautam was the last thing that the franchise needed across so many levels. On that note, let us take a look at three reasons why her ruling out of the entire season is a huge blow.

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#1 The franchise had huge expectations from Kashvee Gautam

Gujarat Giants picked up 10 players at the 2024 WPL auction, and they used one-third of their budget on Kashvee Gautam, which goes on to show the incredible faith the franchise had in her abilities. She was not the only one for the future, as the side needed her skills from the word go, given the squad composition.

She was all set to make it to the playing XI right away and lead the reshaped bowling attack. The team surprisingly parted ways with Kim Garth, their leading wicket-taker with 11 scalps from seven matches last year, as well as all-rounder Annabel Sutherland.

Furthermore, Kashvee Gautam is no stranger with the bat. Although the franchise have relatively good batting depth, the youngster could have proven to be useful with some key runs down the order. She had scored a quickfire 60 for Chhatisgarh women in a senior women's cup clash at the start of her career. Although she has not had many opportunities with the bat, the WPL could have proven to be the ideal venue for her improvement on that front.

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#2 The pace department is already depleted

As mentioned earlier, the Gujarat Giants released both Kim Garth and Annabel Sutherland, and arguably did not do the best job of replacing them through the WPL auction.

To make matters worse, left-arm seamer Lauren Cheatle has withdrawn from the WPL 2024 season following a skin cancer procedure. The franchise have named Lea Tahuhu as a replacement, but the New Zealand seamer will be new to the league and come into the 2024 season as an unknown entity.

Even if the overseas pace department is considered resolved courtesy of the last-minute replacement as well as the acquisition of Kathryn Bryce, the same cannot be said about the local depth. The franchise do not have credible Indian pacers to make up the remainder of the bowling unit.

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#3 Kashvee Gautam was in good form

Kashvee Gautam made headlines in the early days of her career after claiming all 10 wickets in an innings in a U-19 contest against Arunachal Pradesh.

As far as her recent exploits are concerned, she played in the Senior Women's T20 Trophy in late 2023, where she took 12 wickets in seven matches at an economy of just 4.14 and finished as the ninth leading wicket-taker.

She also played for India 'A' women's team against England 'A' women's team to conclude the year. Playing two T20I matches, she took three wickets at an economy of 7.27.

Where will the Gujarat Giants finish in the upcoming 2024 WPL season? Let us know what you think.