WPL: Deandra Dottin disappointed with Gujarat Giants’ ‘bewildering reasoning’ for her omission from squad

New Delhi:  Star West Indies cricketer Deandra Dottin has expressed disappointment over Gujarat Giants’s “bewildering reasoning” for her omission from the squad for the inaugural edition of Women’s Premier League.

Deandra was signed by Giants for INR Rs 60 lakh at the player auction. However, she was ruled out of the WPL 2023 on medical grounds with Australian all-rounder Kim Garth replacing her in the Gujarat squad.

Before the start of the tournament, Gujarat-based franchise had initially said that Deandra will not be a part of its squad for the WPL as she was “recovering from a medical situation”.

Refuting the claims, the West Indies all-rounder said that she was recovering from nothing and fit to participate in the tournament.

Later, the WPL franchise issued a statement and confirmed that Deandra will not be a part of its squad for the ongoing WPL season after they could not obtain her medical clearance in time for the tournament.

Now, after almost three weeks, the Caribbean all-rounder on Monday released a detailed statement and clarified the events that led to her omission from the tournament earlier this month.

“I remain deeply disappointed by what can only, plausibly, be described as bewildering reasoning for my omission from the tournament,” Deandra said in a statement shared on her Twitter handle.

“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.

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,” she added.

The 34-year further said that the franchise insisted that she got herself assessed locally, despite getting a medical clearance from her surgeon.

“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. 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,” Deandra said.

“To my shock, I was then forwarded email correspondence from the Giants’ physiotherapist, that included the following demand “Deandra Dottin is strictly advised to submit her fitness report along with the recent scan by 26/02/2023. She will be deemed unfit for T20 matches in the WPL if she doesn’t comply.”

This request was sent on Saturday 25th February with the deadline provided being the following day – Sunday – making it near impossible to administer all stipulated medical tests, particularly over a weekend,” she added.

The West Indian further mentioned that on February 26 – she was told by a senior manager at Adani Sportsline (the sports arm of Adani Group) that she had “a solid role to play”, however, they would require her to produce the new CT scan and reports by March 1.

“Whilst I was trying my utmost to arrange an expedited CT scan in accordance with the various deadlines I was being served, I received yet another email the following day (Monday, 27th February), this time from the Head of Adani Sportsline, stating that they were unable to find me a timely appointment at a private hospital from their end and that they would, thus, formally be seeking to replace me in the League,” Deandra said.

“To the best of my knowledge, other players had not been requested to partake in medical testing nor require medical clearance as a requisite to participating in the tournament,” she added.

–IANS