Gujarat Giants (GG) head coach Michael Klinger opened upabout the decision to retire out Ayushi Soni during their WPL 2026 clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) on January 13 in Navi Mumbai. He said it was a tactical move made to maximise runs in the final overs.
Ayushi made her WPL debut against MI and was retired out on 11 off 14 balls at the end of the 16th over. The decision made her the first player to be retired out in WPL history.
Explaining the reason behind the call during the post-match press conference, Klinger said, “So we spoke to Ayushi and Georgia about that [in the] 13-over timeout, and spoke to Ayushi about really lifting her rate once we get to the 15th over, because of what we have left in the shed, knowing that Bharti is a really strong hitter, and probably just felt after that 16th over, that was the time to inject Bharti with four overs to go, and we knew we had some batters left.”
Klinger revealed that the final decision was taken after a brief discussion with the support staff and captain Ashleigh Gardner. “In the end, the decision came… actually myself, I was just chatting with our batting coach and then Ashleigh Gardner came over and we discussed it and I made the call.”
He also admitted that it was a tough decision for Ayushi and said, “It’s tough on the individual, we’ve spoken to Ayushi and we continue to speak to her, keep the confidence in her, but sometimes you’ve got to make those calls, there’s probably a difference between us making 190-odd to 170-odd.”
After Ayushi walked back, Bharti Fulmali played a fine knock, smashing an unbeaten 36 off just 15 balls, which took GG’s total to 192/5 in 20 overs. Klinger also reassured Ayushi, saying, “I spoke to Ayushi as soon as she came off, and just said that we felt that Bharti was the best option going into the last four overs.”
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