Gujarat Giants gave bewildering reasoning for my omission: Deandra Dottin

West Indian cricketer Deandra Dottin. Photo: @Dottin_5

West Indian Deandra Dottin has expressed disappointment at her exclusion from Women’s Premier League franchise Gujarat Giants, terming it “bewildering”.

The 31-year-old Caribbean all-rounder was signed for ₹60 lakh by the Adani-owned side, but before the start of the tournament, she was excluded from the squad on medical grounds.

The Giants had stated that Dottin failed to get medical clearance by the deadline, which was the reason why they replaced her with Australia’s Kim Garth. But Dottin refuted the claims made by the franchise.

“I wish to issue a brief statement in light of ongoing speculation surrounding my recent exclusion from the inaugural Women’s Premier League that is currently taking place in India.

“I remain deeply disappointed by what can only, plausibly, be described as bewildering reasoning for my omission from the tournament,” Dottin said in statement which she posted on Twitter.

“I was bought at the WPL auction by the Gujarat Giants, a franchise owned and operated by the Adani Group. At the commencement of the tournament, the franchise claimed that I was excluded from the team because I was apparently “recovering from a medical situation”.

“This was followed by a subsequent, clarifying statement that contended that I was, in fact “unable to obtain medical clearance” despite being granted as recently as February 20th,” she said.

The veteran of 143 ODIs and 127 T20Is said that she was shocked by the decision taken by Giants’ team management.

“I would like to make it clear that I had experienced minor abdominal pain and swelling for which I had sought treatment in December 2022. This was followed by two further referrals to specialists for second opinions in December and January 2023, respectively.

“Following testing and investigations by the specialists, I was asked to rest until February 13th and was cleared to resume fitness and playing activity from February 14th.

“Consequently, I recommenced my personal training and fitness regime according to the guided timelines and experienced some soreness on the first day of resumed training which was anticipated and reasonable, given that I had been asked to rest in the weeks preceding training.”

Dotting said her words were misinterpreted by the Giants.

“I was transparent about this in correspondence with the Gujarat Giants physiotherapist, however, this was misconstrued and later conveyed to members of the franchise’s management team as me “experiencing abdominal pain post-session” which was not what I had indicated.

“The franchise, subsequently, insisted that I get myself assessed locally in Canada, where I am currently based, despite medical clearance being granted as recently as February 20th by my treating surgeon, Dr lan Lewis, a copy of which had been presented to Giants,” she added.