St Johns [Antigua], March 20 : West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has expressed her disappointment with the reasons given by Gujarat Giants to explain her exclusion from the Women's Premier League team
Earlier Gujarat Giants said that Dottin was recovering from a medical situation, however, in a tweet, she said that, "I really appreciate all the messages but truth be told I'm recovering from nothing but the Holy Ghost anointing thank you."
https://twitter.com/Dottin_5/status/1631961834981842947?s=20
Later on, Giants gave more clarity about the matter and said that Dottin was unable to obtain medical clearance and Australia's Kim Garth would replace her in WPL. But things started to escalate quickly on Sunday night. The 31-year-old made a tweet about the displeasure she felt after the statement made by the WPL franchise.
In her caption, she wrote, "In light of ongoing speculation surrounding my exclusion from this year's Women's Premier League (WPL), please find attached, a brief statement from me that addresses and clarifies the events that led to my omission from the inaugural WPL tournament earlier this month."
A statement was also attached to the tweet which made things clear from Dottin's side.
https://twitter.com/Dottin_5/status/1637529133776515072?s=20
"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."
"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."
Dottin also claimed that the Gujarat Giants insisted that she gets herself assessed locally even though she was given medical clearance by her treating surgeon on February 20.
"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."
"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."
Gujarat Giants has made no comments about this matter till now. They will play their final game of WPL against UP Warriorz on Monday at the Brabourne Stadium.