WPL: Gujarat skipper Gardner seeks giant strides from pacer Renuka

It’s been over two months since the Australia women’s team suffered a close five-wicket defeat to India in the ICC Women’s World Cup semi-final at DY Patil Stadium (October 30), but all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner admitted that the frustration is still felt. “Yeah, that was obviously really frustrating. I’m not denying that,” said Gardner, adding though that the then defending champions are still the best team in the world. “But I still think we’re the best team in the world. I think if we played any team 10 times in a row, I’d say that we’re probably going to win eight or nine times. That might sound really cocky, but I believe we are the best team in the world still. But yes, that was a pretty hard defeat playing against a very good side,” Gardner, who will be leading Gujarat Giants (GG) in the upcoming WPL-4 starting on January 9, told mid-day on the sidelines of the team’s pre-season press conference at city hotel on Tuesday.

Gardner also predicted that the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian women’s team will be tough to beat in the future. “India are going to be one of those teams in the next five to 10 years that are going to be very hard to beat,” she said, going on to praise  India pacer Renuka Singh Thakur, who was picked up at the auction by GG for R60 lakh. “Knowing Renuka’s skill set, she’s obviously a wicket-taker, bowling in the Powerplay and I guess bowling those hard overs. So knowing I’ve got someone I can throw the ball to at the start and someone I’ve got faith in certainly helps,” added Gardner.