Gujarat Giants batter Ayushi Soni became the first player to be retired out in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) history. The moment came against Mumbai Indians in the WPL 2026 match 6 on Tuesday (Jan 13) at DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai. Soni, who was making her debut in the league, was batting at 11 off 14 balls without a boundary and was struggling to get going when she was called back in the 16th over. Bharti Fulmali was sent in her place and she ended up scoring unbeaten 36 off 15 balls including three fours and three sixes as Gujarat finished at 192/5 in 20 overs.
AYUSHI FIRST WPL PLAYER TO BE RETIRED OUT
Ayushi is the first player to be retired out in WPL but she’s not the first player to be retired out in a women’s white-ball league. Before her, Kathryn Bryce was retired out for Manchester Originals against Northern Superchargers in the Women’s Hundred in 2024.
The retire out seems the go to option in T20 leagues this year with as many as seven batters being out the same way in both men’s and women’s league including Soni. Before her, Nic Maddison (Jan 3 in BBL), Jeet Rawal (Jan 4 in Super Smash), Xavier Bell (Jan 4 in Super Smash), Roston Chase (Jan 7 in SA20), Tim Pringle (Jan 8 in Super Smash), and Mohammad Rizwan (Jan 12 in BBL) are the batters to be retired out in T20s in 2026.
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“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,” GG head coach Michael Klinger said at the post-match press conference.
GG, however, lost the match after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur led MI’s chase with 71 not out off just 43 balls, handing Gujarat their first loss of the season.
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