Gujarat Giants' Fielding Woes Costly vs MI, Kanika Ahuja Shines at No. 3

GG suffered their first loss of the WPL 2026 season, with an uncharacteristically untidy fielding display undoing much of the good work they had shown earlier in the tournament.

MI skipper Harmanpreet was dropped on three occasions, and several misfields and overthrows compounded their problems, a stark contrast to the sharp standards they had set in their opening two matches.

Reflecting on the performance, Klinger noted that the Giants were largely solid for most of the innings before things unravelled late on.

"We fielded really well in the first couple of games. And probably in the first 14-15 overs we fielded quite well and then all those dropped catches came in the back end in the last five-six overs," Klinger said at the post-match press conference.

He acknowledged how costly such mistakes can be against world-class batters, but he was careful not to question his players' work ethic.

"It's difficult when you give a player as good as Harmanpreet three chances, but at the same time, the effort - I can't say anything bad about our effort in the field and our work with training.

"They've been working extremely hard with our fielding coach Sarah Taylor and all the other coaches. So certainly no issue with the effort. It's difficult when you put good players down, catches down, and so it's something we'll keep working on. We've worked on our fielding really hard and we've had two good performances and probably one performance that's not quite at our best."

Earlier, GG made a tactical adjustment to their

batting order after all-rounder Anushka Sharma was ruled out with a hand injury sustained in the win over Delhi Capitals. With Anushka unavailable, Kanika Ahuja was promoted to No. 3, a significant change given that she had batted as low as No. 8 in the previous match and hadn't featured in the season opener.

The decision proved inspired. After Sophie Devine's early dismissal, Ahuja counterattacked with a fluent 35 off 18 deliveries, striking four boundaries and two sixes to inject momentum into the innings.

Klinger explained the rationale for the move and praised Ahuja's execution.

"We probably had a couple of options in that (No. 3) spot. Once we realised that Anushka was going to be unavailable for a game or two, and we felt Kanika had been training really well. (She's) another left-hander up the top who can play pace and spin well, and I thought she played brilliantly today," Klinger said.

He added that clarity about her role had helped her play with freedom.

"We spoke to her about playing some strong shots, not trying to over-hit the ball, and I felt she did that really well, both to pace and spin, hitting through and over the field brilliantly.

"She started so well and still had about 19 (17.2) overs left to bat, and I think there's even a lot of upside there and she can get some even bigger scores for us if she gets that opportunity down the track."

The innings marked Ahuja's first appearance at No. 3 in the WPL, with her previous highest batting position being No. 4 in a 2023 fixture against UP Warriorz. She took full advantage of the powerplay, reaching 20 off just nine balls by the end of the sixth over.

With Anushka unlikely to return until the Baroda leg begins on January 19, Ahuja is expected to continue in the role for GG's next outing as the Giants look to bounce back and tighten their fielding standards.

- IANS