Ashleigh Gardner To Captain Gujarat Giants In Women's Premier League 2026

Star Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner will captain Gujarat Giants in the 2026 edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), which is set to start on January 9, 2026, at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

The development was confirmed by the Ahmedabad-based Adani-owned franchise on Monday night via a post on X.

28-year-old Gardner, who has played 25 WPL matches for Gujarat Giants in the last three years, was one of the two players retained by the franchise head of the WPL 2026 auction in Delhi. Gardner was retained for Rs 3.50 crore, and she will be one of the three highest-paid players in WPL 2026.

“OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. Experience in her stride. Belief in her voice. Ash Gardner steps up once more as our CAPTAIN, primed to take us to glory,” GG tweeted.

🎺 OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Experience in her stride.
Belief in her voice. ❤️‍🔥

Ash Gardner steps up once more as our CAPTAIN, primed to take us to glory. 🧡✊#GujaratGiants #BringItOn #Adani #GameOnGujaratStrong #TATAWPL pic.twitter.com/peivWRCSBx

— Gujarat Giants (@Giant_Cricket) December 29, 2025

In 25 WPL matches for Gujarat Giants, Gardner, who is one of the greatest cricketers of all time, has scored 567 runs and picked up 25 wickets.

Overall, she has played 282 T20 matches so far for four teams (Australia, Gujarat Giants, Trent Rockets and Sydney Sixers) and has 5091 runs, 242 wickets and 102 catches to her credit.

Ash led the Gujarat Giants in the 2025 edition of the WPL as well. She was appointed as the team’s captain in place of Beth Mooney. In her first WPL season as GG captain, Gardner won four out of nine matches and helped her side finish in the top three and qualify for the knockouts.

GG, however, failed to qualify for the final. In the Eliminator match, Mumbai Indians defeated them by 11 runs.

Gardner was last seen in action on December 11, 2025, in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) for the Sydney Sixers. She led the Sydney-based franchise in WBBL this year and scored 143 runs in 10 matches in addition to taking 19 wickets.

Ash finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker in WBBL 2025, but her team failed to qualify for the final. In the challenger clash, the Perth Scorchers defeated them by 11 runs.