GUJ-W vs MI-W Dream11 prediction, WPL 2023: Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians pitch report

GUJ-W vs MI-W Dream11 prediction Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians, WPL 2023 Gujarat Giants will host Mumbai Indians in the first-ever match of Women's Premier League or WPL 2023 at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium on Saturday (March 4). Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians will start at 7:30 PM IST.

Indian women's cricket will be diving into the uncharted territory of franchise cricket from Saturday onwards as the inaugural WPL begins in Mumbai amid much hullabaloo. Many have rated the game as Ambani vs Adani as Gujarat Giants are owned by Adani Group while Mumbai Indians are owned by Indiawin Sports, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

Before we take a deeper look into the qualities and firepower of both teams, let's take a look at their squads.

GUJ-W vs MI-W squads Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians women

Gujarat Giants squad Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney (c), Sophie Dunkley, Anna Sutherland, Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin (injured and out of WPL), Sneh Rana, S Meghana, Georgia Wareham, Mansi Joshi, D Hemalatha, Monica Patel, Tanuja Kanwer, Sushma Verma, Hurley Gala, Ashwani Kumari, Parunika Sisodia, Shabnam Shakil, Kim Garth

Mumbai Indians squad Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Nat Sciver, Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Yastika Bhatia, Heather Graham, Isabelle Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Dhara Gujjar, Saika Ishaque, Hayley Mathews, Chloe Tryon, Humairaa Kaazi, Priyanka Bala, Sonam Yadav, Jintimani Kalita, Neelam Bisht

GUJ-W vs MI-W injury update, team news

Gujarat Giants injury update, key players in WPL 2023

Gujarat Giants have been hit by injury before the first ball is bowled in WPL as West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin is ruled out of the tournament with injury. She is replaced by Australian all-rounder Kim Garth for the season.

Gujarat Giants rely on their star foreigners

The four foreigners in all likelihood could be spin all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, skipper Beth Mooney, English opener Sophia Dunkley and Georgia Wareham.

However, pacer Annabell Sutherland may still get the nod ahead of Wareham if skipper Mooney looks to exploit the seaming condition early on in the game.

Gardner and Mooney were key members of Australia's T20 World Cup triumph in South Africa. Gardner, who was the joint most expensive player at the WPL auction in February, took 10 wickets and scored 110 runs to take the player of the tournament award while Beth Mooney was player of the match in the final with a knock of 74*.

Mooney, who was bought for Rs 2 crore, scored three half-centuries in her last four knocks as Australia won their record sixth title.

Dunkley, however, had a discolour World Cup with the bat despite England reaching the semis as the batter scored 78 runs in five innings. The expectation was high of her as she scored two half-centuries (60* and 59) during the World Cup warm-ups.

Lack of Indian A-listers for Gujarat Giants

There's bit of concern regarding Gujarat's indigenous player, a key ingredient in winning franchise cricket, as they are missing the A-listers of Indian women's cricket.

Batter S Meghana, all-rounder Sneh Rana, and Harleen Deol are the three names from the current Indian setup. Meghana was a travelling reserve for the T20 World Cup while Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol got to play limited roles during India's run to the semifinal, where they went out to the eventual champions.

Meghana, who bats in the top-order, has a dismal average of 18.42 in WT20Is while striking at a not-so-convincing rate of 102.78. She, however, is known for pacing her innings well after spending some time in the middle but has been largely inconsistent.

Spin all-rounder Sneh Rana played the last two games at the World Cup, replacing injured Pooja Vastrakar and was effective with two wickets against South Africa as well but couldn't do much against the quality batting line-up of the Australians in the semis.

The 29-year-old off-spinner has 24 wickets in 25 WT20Is for India and bats lower down the order for India at No.8. However, she is not exactly a pinch hitter as she strikes below 100.

Middle-order batter Harleen Deol featured in just a game during the World Cup and couldn't do much apart from fielding. She averages 17.50 in the format and has a strike rate of 89.09. She can bowl a bit as well with six wickets in 22 WT20Is.

Among other Indians in the team, pacer all-rounder Mansi Joshi, who wasn't part of the World Cup squad, is all likely to feature in the team while slotting in the middle-order. However, her T20 credentials with the bat is nothing that catches attention. The Haryana cricketer has 19 wickets to her name in 22 international matches in all formats.

Gujarat Giants also roped in members of India's U-19 World Cup team in Shabnam Shakil and Hurley Gala. 15-year-old Shabnam, a medium pacer, took nine wickets in last 10 games for India U-19 team.

16-year-old Gala is a medium pacer all-rounder and bats in the middle-order. Gala, however, had a hard time at the South African event.

Railways southpaw spinner Tanuja Kanwar could be a handy spin option while Sushma Verma is expected to be behind the stumps. Verma has been out of favour with the Indian team off late with Richa Ghosh establishing herself in the team.

D Hemlatha is another top-order batting option and has been out of the Indian team since featuring in the Women's Asia Cup in Bangladesh last year.

Mumbai Indians women injury update, team news

Mumbai Indians women have no reported injuries and have a much better squad depth in comparison to their Saturday rival.

Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the side and in all likelihood will play at her preferred No. 4 spot with her knock against Australia in the semis still fresh in fans' minds and hopefully hers too as she had a torrid time at the World Cup before that innings in the semis.

Mumbai Indians foreign quality at par with Gujarat Giants

Among foreign stars in the side, England's Nat Sciver bolsters the middle-order further and is in hot form as she scored 216 runs at the Women's T20 World Cup to finish second highest run-scorer at an average of 72.

The English all-rounder will be to MI bowling too as she has 79 WT20I wickets to her name in 108 international outings.

New Zealand's Amelia Kerr is likely to bat at No. 3 as the leg-spin all-rounder will be crucial to the franchise's title-winning ambition. She didn't have the best of the T20 World Cup but did score a half-century in New Zealand's last group game before exit.

West Indies captain Hayley Mathews is likely to start the innings for Mumbai Indians after a stunning show for the Caribbeans at the World Cup. The opener has scored 66, 42 and 50 among her last five knocks in T20Is. It won't be wrong to assume that Yashtika Bhatia may open the innings with her.

Pacer Issy Wong is the only genuine pacer in the squad but wasn't part of England's squad at the World Cup. The 20-year-old pacer brings with her immense experience of playing T20 franchise cricket in the best leagues in the world.

The same is true for Australian all-rounder Heather Graham, who was part of the Australia squad at the World Cup but didn't feature in any game. It will be interesting to see if Harmanpreet takes into account Graham's batting ability before deciding who will be her main pacer for the game.

South African Chloe Tryon, who had a decent World Cup, may not find a place in the team but her spin bowling and batting abilities could prove important later in the season.

Mumbai Indians have better Indian players

As far as Indians are concerned, Harmanpreet Kaur will be looking at young Pooja Vastrakar to do the goods with both bat and the ball, especially her hard-hitting abilities down the order.

Assam pacer Jintimani Kalita would also find an opportunity to impress the captain in absence of other team India pacers in the line-up while Amanjot Kaur will be important with her seam bowling and batting.

Youngsters Dhara Gujjar and Sonam Yadav will see this as an opportunity from the best in the business while domestic stalwarts like Humairaa Kaazi, Saika Ishqaue, Priyanka Bala, Neelam Bisht will like to leave an impact with the focus turning to women's cricket for good.

Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians predicted playing XI GUJ-W vs MI-W, WPL 2023

Gujarat Giants predicted playing 11 vs Mumbai Indians Beth Mooney (C), Sophia Dunkley, Ashleigh Gardner, S Meghana, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Mansi Joshi, D Hemlatha, Georgia Wareham/Anna Sutherland, Sushma Verma (WK), Shabnam Shakil, Tanuja Kanwar

Mumbai Indians predicted playing 11 vs Gujarat Giants Hayley Mathews, Yashtika Bhatia (WK), Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Nat Sciver, Pooja Vastrakar, Neelam Bisht, Amanjot Kaur, Humairaa Kaazi, Jintimani Kalita, Issy Wong/Heather Graham

Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians pitch report GUJ-W vs MI-W

The DY Patil Stadium provides early movement to the pacers but overall it's a good batting wicket. With the pitch being fresh, a lot of runs is on the offer with top-order firepower on the offer. The gulf in quality of international cricketers and Indian domestic bowlers could lead to some serious run showe as well.

GUJ-W vs MI-W Dream11 prediction Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians

Wicketkeeper B Mooney
Batter H Kaur, S Dunkley
All-rounder H Matthews, N Sciver, A Kerr, A Gardner, S Rana
Bowler P Vastrakar, I Wong/H Graham

Captain and vice-captain choices B Mooney, N Sciver, A Gardner are among the top picks due to their recent form while the likes of H Kaur, P Vastrakar will look to exploit home conditions.