Gujarat Giants’ Gardner says captaincy is a “fantastic challenge”; says WPL experience will help in World Cup

Ashleigh Gardner, one of the premier all-rounders in the world, recently added the mantle of captaincy to her vast repertoire of skills when she led Gujarat Giants to its best-ever campaign in the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL). 

“I was certainly not aspiring to become captain while starting my career,” Gardner admitted, as she nears a decade of playing the sport professionally. “If that opportunity ever came up, I’d go with it, and it’s a fantastic challenge,” she told  Sportstar, six matches into leading the Giants. 

GG had finished last in both previous WPL seasons, but 2025 brought a turnaround. With three wins so far, the Gardner-led side ended its four-point slump and sits second in the standings, which, according to the new skipper, is because players are finally starting to enjoy themselves. 

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“The first two WPL seasons probably didn’t go the way we would have planned. But looking at the players we have this time around, it just has a different feel about it,” she said . 

“Being able to reset before each game has held us in pretty good stead, knowing that each opponent can be beaten. We’re certainly going in an upwards direction, which is exciting,” said Gardner, with two matches remaining for the Giants, against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians.

Although the 27-year-old believes she can learn a thing or two from seasoned leaders like Meg Lanning – the Capitals’ skipper – and Alyssa Healy, Gardner remains committed to her own approach. “Everyone’s got different methods to the way they want to captain, and I hope that I’m kind of taking my own way on it,” she said.

Ashleigh Gardner (c) of Gujarat Giants delivers a ball during match 15 of the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL) between the UP Warriorz and the Gujarat Giants held at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, India on the 3rd March 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL

True to her words, the Australian led by example from the word go, smashing a blistering 79 off 37 balls and taking two key wickets against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the season opener in Vadodara, the Giants’ home ground. Though GG lost that high-scoring match, she set the tone for what was to come. 

“There’s no hiding behind the fact that I didn’t perform for my team last year,” said Gardner, who managed 120 runs and seven wickets in eight matches in 2024. “I’m now playing with confidence, which is sometimes all that matters. I was able to come off a pretty good Ashes campaign with bat and ball and take the confidence,” she said. 

The Ashes series saw Gardner score her first international hundred (WODI) and finish in the top-five for most runs and wickets despite sitting out the three T20Is.

However, though individual accolades help, team success remains her guiding principle. “Personal accolades are great, but if I can put my team in a winning position, whether it’s with bat and ball or in the field, that’s what drives me. 

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“To win that series 16-0 (Two points for each of the three T20I and three ODI wins and four points for the one-off Test victory) was something that we never thought we were probably going to be able to do at the start. But to play the best cricket that we had for a very long time was pleasing to see,” she said.

With an ODI Women’s World Cup in India just around the corner, Gardner believes the defending champion can retain the title. “Our chances are good. I still think we’re the best team in the world – there’s probably no denying that. We’ve played so much cricket here in India, so we have the experience,” she said. 

What will help Gardner is her current WPL form. She has already surpassed her best-ever run tally with the bat – 213 runs in six matches – and is closing in on 10 scalps (7). “Playing in my third edition of the WPL but also touring here a lot for Australia, I’ve got used to the conditions. 

“Obviously, in T20 cricket, they’re going to be pretty conducive for batting, but in this edition of the WPL, there’s been a little bit in it for the bowlers as well. This WPL (2025) has probably been the most even in all of the editions,” said Gardner, who feels that the tournament will benefit further from the increased pool of domestic talent. 

“We’re seeing players from each team create a name for themselves. It’s exciting to see those young players shine on the biggest stage,” she said, lauding GG’s Kashvee Gautam and Priya Mishra. 

Though Gardner believes Australia’s domestic set-up is still at the forefront, India is not too far behind. “Our domestic players have been paid to play cricket over the last few years, which is an absolute luxury to have. 

“To know that they can put a lot of time and effort into their game of cricket to be the best cricketers that they can potentially is one of the reasons why the WBBL is still at the forefront of the cricketing world for females,” Gardner said, hoping the WPL will follow suit.