Sophie Devine has been on the receiving end of widespread plaudits during the Women’s Premier League (WPL), and deservedly so.
Perched at the top of the Purple Cap standings with 17 wickets, the Gujarat Giants all-rounder has been instrumental in helping the team see off tense matches. Cases in point are the two matches against Delhi Capitals – the Giants’ opponent in the Eliminator on Tuesday – where the New Zealand veteran gave a masterclass in death bowling.

But another GG player who has flown under the radar with her quiet, yet impactful spells is Rajeshwari Gayakwad. If Devine pulls the strings towards the end of the innings, Rajeshwari holds the fort in the middle overs (7-15). Seven of her 10 wickets so far this season have come during the middle phase, five of her scalps being against Delhi.
The left-arm spinner was picked by the Giants for Rs. 40 lakh in the auction, marking an end to her association with UP Warriorz, where she spent the first three seasons. The move to GG has so far been a boon for the 34-year-old.

r the radar with her quiet yet impactful spells for Gujarat Giants this 2026 WPL season. | Photo Credit: Gujarat Giants

Sophie Devine has been on the receiving end of widespread plaudits during the ongoing edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), and deservedly so.

Perched at the top of the Purple Cap standings with 17 wickets, the Gujarat Giants all-rounder has been instrumental in helping the team see off tense matches. Cases in point are the two matches against Delhi Capitals – the Giants’ opponent in the Eliminator on Tuesday – where the New Zealand veteran gave a masterclass in death bowling.

But another GG player who has flown under the radar with her quiet, yet impactful spells is Rajeshwari Gayakwad. If Devine pulls the strings towards the end of the innings, Rajeshwari holds the fort in the middle overs (7-15). Seven of her 10 wickets so far this season have come during the middle phase, five of her scalps being against Delhi.

Rajeshwari holds the fort in the middle overs, with seven of her 10 wickets so far this season coming during the middle phase.
Rajeshwari holds the fort in the middle overs, with seven of her 10 wickets so far this season coming during the middle phase. | Photo Credit: Gujarat Giants

The left-arm spinner was picked by the Giants for Rs. 40 lakh in the auction, marking an end to her association with UP Warriorz, where she spent the first three seasons. The move to GG has so far been a boon for the 34-year-old.

“I didn’t know GG would pick me at the auction. It’s been a blessing for me because I’ve been having lots of fun being a part of this team. Everyone is really supportive, and they never made me feel that I’m a newcomer. The atmosphere is really good,” Rajeshwari told Sportstar on the eve of the Eliminator against DC.

After the second league-stage match against the Warriorz, where her spell of three for 16 earned her the Player of the Match award, Rajeshwari revealed how she’s been enjoying her cricket lately. But it took the Indian international an injury layoff and a shift at the domestic level to rediscover herself with the ball.

A necessary change
During India’s 2024 Test match against South Africa in Chennai, Rajeshwari sustained a knee injury which required surgery. After the operation, she spent six months in rehab.

Once she regained match fitness, however, she couldn’t find a place in the Railways team.

Rajeshwari began representing the side back in 2015 after changing allegiances from her home State, Karnataka. But she claimed that after returning from injury, she didn’t get a chance to prove herself.

“It took me quite some time to get over it, but sometimes you understand what’s to come. I felt thatthe railwayss wouldn’t support me or give me a chance to prove myself after returning from injury. I was in a bad place mentally, too,” she explained.

That’s when the player from Bijapur (now Vijayapura) chose to return to Karnataka ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season, a move which paid off dearly.

In the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy Elite, she bagged 15 wickets at an economy of 5.07 and averaged 11.40 every wicket. She was Karnataka’s highest wicket-taker in the edition, and third-highest overall.

“I got a lot of time during my rehab to work on my fitness and technique before this domestic season. Moreover, it’s the amount of self-belief I have that helped me a lot. I played WPL last year, too, but didn’t get much game time because I’d just returned to action.

“It was very important to get myself physically fit again. With regards to my bowling, I worked on areas which needed improvement and learned variations. That’s why I think I utilised that period very well, and the results are showing now,” she said.

It was a fresh start for Rajeshwari, going into the season with the target of enjoying her cricket and nothing more. Perhaps the absence of any expectations from herself helped her churn out performances which caught the eyeballs of WPL scouts sitting at the GG table.

Still going strong
While Rajeshwari, who’s known as Raja di in the cricketing world, seems to have found her rhythm once again at the domestic and franchise level, she still yearns to put on the India jersey again.

The last time she represented India was in that 2024 Test. In white-ball formats, she last played in 2023 – it was the final against Sri Lanka at the Asian Games in China.

When asked about India’s ODI World Cup triumph last year, she sounded chuffed. “I felt so happy. The unrealised dream finally came true. I was watching the final from home, and my tears would not stop. I wasn’t sad for not being part of the team when it won the Cup,” Rajeshwari, who was part of the side which lost the 2017 World Cup final to England, said.

Her relatively lengthy absence from the national team set-up might have created murmurs of her silently calling it a day from international cricket, but she debunked any theories with a smile.

“I definitely hope to play for India again. I don’t know why people think I’ve retired, maybe Google is showing that [laughs]. I’m still playing, and would like to for as long as I’m fit. And it’s important to take the age factor out of the equation, because there are people who are playing at 37, so why can’t I? Till the day I leave cricket, no one can take it away from me.”