Beth Mooney of Australia has been selected captain of the Gujarat Giants in the first Women's Premier League (WPL). Mooney, who scored a match-winning 74 not out in Australia's sixth Women's T20 World Cup victory, will reunite with former teammate and Giants head coach Rachael Haynes. Sneh Rana, an allrounder from India, has been selected vice-captain.
Mooney was a part of Australia's T20 World Cup-winning teams in 2018 and 2020 - she has named Player of the Tournament three years ago - before also lifting the trophy in 2023, in addition to winning the ODI World Cup in 2022 and the Commonwealth Games gold medal last year. She has also won the Women's Big Bash League three times and is Australia's only T20I batter with two hundred.
Mooney will be leading a team in an international T20 league for the first time. She was London Spirit's highest run-scorer in the women's Hundred last year. She has only led a few games in the Women's Big Bash League, having played for the Brisbane Heat, who have been largely led by Kirby Short, and the Perth Scorchers, who have been largely led by Sophie Devine.
Meanwhile, Rana made a comeback to the Indian side in 2021 and played in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup this year, where India narrowly lost to Australia. She represented Velocity in the Women's T20 Challenge and has played 25 T20Is, 22 ODIs and a Test for India.
Giants selected Mooney for INR 2 crore (approximately USD 244,000) and Rana for INR 75 lakh (USD 91,000 approx). On Saturday, the Giants will kick off the WPL against the Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
