Debut match did not prove to be good for Ayushi SoniImage Credit source: Instagram/Gujarat Giants

In the Big Bash League, Pakistan's star player Mohammad Rizwan had to return after retiring in the middle of batting. This surprised everyone. Just a day after this happened to Rizwan in Australia, a player in India also had to face this situation. Ayushi Soni was retired out midway in the Women's Premier League (WPL 2026) match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants. The Gujarat Giants batsman was making her WPL debut in this match itself.

On Tuesday 13 January at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai. WPL 2026 In the sixth match of Gujarat Giants took this shocking decision. In both their opening matches of this season, Gujarat Giants had scored big scores with strong batting. The team was doing the same against Mumbai in its third match and got a stormy start from the top order. In such a situation, similar batting was expected from debutant Ayushi.

Debut match was not good for Ayushi

Ayushi also got a chance to bat in the 11th over. By that time Gujarat had scored 97 runs in 10.1 overs. 25-year-old Ayushi, who hails from Delhi, might have expected to prove herself on such an occasion but once she stepped onto the crease, things did not go in her favor. Ayushi remained at the crease for 6 overs and during this time she got a chance to face 14 balls but she could not do any wonders on them. Only 11 runs came from Ayushi's bat, in which there was not a single boundary.

The effect of this was that in these 6 overs only 36 runs were added to Gujarat's score in 35 balls. The team's chances of scoring big were decreasing and in such a situation, Gujarat Giants team management took a big decision and retired Ayushi at the end of the 16th over. In this way, she became the first player in WPL history to retire.

Gujarat benefited from the decision

Gujarat benefited from this decision because the new batsman Bharti Phoolmali, who came to the crease, hit sixes and fours. This batsman scored 36 runs in just 15 balls, hitting 3 sixes and 3 fours. In the last 4 balls of the innings, he scored 18 runs with the help of 2 sixes and 1 four. Overall, Gujarat scored 56 runs in the last 4 overs, out of which Bharti scored 36 runs. Georgia Wareham also supported him well and scored unbeaten 43 runs in 33 balls. Gujarat finally scored a strong score of 192 runs in 20 overs.