Who is Kanika Ahuja? Meet Gujarat Giants all-rounder who smashed 18-ball 35 against MI in WPL 2026

New Delhi: Indian all-rounder Kanika Ahuja stole the show for Gujarat Giants (GG) with her quickfire 35 in her side’s clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 on Tuesday. Kanika came out to bat at no.3 for the Giants after the fall of opener Sophie Devine and set the tone for a big total with a fearless knock.

Asked to bat first by the defending champions, Gujarat Giants got off to a shaky start, losing opener Sophie Devine cheaply on 8 in the 3rd over. Kanika then joined a settled Beth Mooney in the middle and looked unfazed under pressure as she went all guns blazing against the MI bowlers.

She started with a boundary against pacer Shabnim Ismail, before taking down Hayley Matthews in the next over. The 23-year-old looked in great touch as she smoked the ball around the park. Kanika finished with a quickfire 35 off just 18 balls, which was laced with 4 fours and two sixes.

She added a 44-run stand for the second wicket with Mooney, who scored a valuable 33 off 26 balls and shared another important stand of 33 runs with captain Ashleigh Gardner, who scored 20 off 11 balls. After Kanika’s exploits, Georgia Wareham (43 not out) and Bharti Fulmali (36 off 15) helped GG finish strongly to post a big total of 192/5 in 20 overs.

All you need to know about Kanika Ahuja

Kanika Ahuja is a 23-year-old all-rounder from India. She was born in Punjab’s Patiala on August 07, 2002 and played for Punjab women in the domestic circuit. A left-hand batter and a right-arm off spinner, Kanika has played for two teams in her WPL career so far. She made her WPL debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2023.

Kanika played 15 matches for RCB across two seasons in the WPL, amassing 179 runs and picking up three wickets. She was picked up by the Gujarat Giants in the WPL 2026 auction last year and has so far played all three matches for her team in the ongoing season.

Kanika didn’t get a chance to bat in GG’s opener against the UP Warriorz and managed only 4 runs in their last game against the Delhi Capitals. On Tuesday, she was promoted to no.3 against the Mumbai Indians and delivered a brilliant 18-ball 35 to make an impact.

The 23-year-old has 218 runs and three wickets to her name in her WPL career so far. Kanika has also played two T20Is for India. She made her international debut for India in a T20I against England at the Wankhede Stadium in December 2023. She scored 16 runs in two T20Is for India, but failed to take a wicket.