She was bought for INR 50 lakh at the mega auction.
Young wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia will be one big name missing from the Gujarat Giants squad for the upcoming season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026. Bought at the mega auction in November last year for INR 50 lakh, Yastika failed to recover in time from her knee injury, which subsequently ruled her out for the whole season.
The latest WPL 2026 news was confirmed by the franchise via a heartwarming post on their social media handles.
“She was ready to shine in orange but fate had other plans. The Gujarat Giants family sends love and strength to Yastika Bhatia, Wishing her a speedy recovery. See you soon, champ,” posted on X (formerly Twitter).
While it’s normal for a franchise to name a replacement for an injured player, GG won’t be able to sign another cricketer to fill the void left by Yastika. This is in accordance with BCCI’s directives since Yastika was injured before the auction. But the Giants decided to buy her anyway.
For the unversed, the 25-year-old had picked up the injury in a preparatory camp before the Women’s World Cup 2025, which forced her to miss the ICC event and the preceding home Australia series as well.
Apart from Yastika, the Giants have Beth Mooney in the wicketkeeper role, who has been a prolific run-scorer and is the first-choice name in the position. They also have Shivani Singh as a backup option.
Ashleigh Gardner-led GG will play their first WPL 2026 match on January 10 against UP Warriorz at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.
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Ashleigh Gardner (c), Beth Mooney (wk), Sophie Devine, Bharti Fulmali, Georgia Wareham, Kanika Ahuja, Ayushi Soni, Kashvee Gautam, Tanuja Kanwar, Titas Sadhu, Renuka Singh, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Kim Garth, Happy Kumari, Anushka Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, and Shivani Singh.
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