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During her stay on the crease on Tuesday, Kanika hammered 4 fours and a pair of sixes for the Ashleigh Gardner-led side.
Who’s Kanika Ahuja? (Picture Credit: X/@wplt20)
23-year-old Kanika Ahuja walked out to bat at No. 3 for Gujarat Giants against Mumbai Indians within the sixth match of WPL 2026 happening at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday (January 13) and scored 35 runs from just 18 balls. The left-handed batter hammered 4 fours and a pair of sixes during her stay on the crease and added 42 runs from just 23 balls for the second wicket with Beth Mooney (33 from 26 balls) and 33 runs from 17 balls for the third wicket with GG skipper Ashleigh Gardner, who made 20 runs from 11 balls (4 fours).
Ahuja opened her account by hitting Shabnim Ismail for a 4 on the second ball of her innings after which slammed Hayley Matthews for a six and 4 on the third and fourth legitimate deliveries of the fourth over of GG’s innings.
She scored yet another 4 on the last ball of the fifth over bowled by Ismail after which slammed Amanjot Kaur for a six on the last ball of the eighth over. Ahuja scored her fourth and final 4 of her 35-run knock on the fourth ball of the ninth over bowled by Amelia Kerr.
Kanika was sent back to the pavilion by Hayley on the primary ball of the eleventh over. In an try and hit a six, she was caught near the boundary ropes by Nicola Carey.
Kanika, who has played for 15 WPL matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru within the WPL from 2023 to 2025, was signed for Rs 30 lakh by the Ahmedabad-based franchise within the WPL 2026 mega auction, and he or she has played all three matches in WPL 2026 for GG.
Kanika Ahuja’s record in WPL
| SEASON | TEAM | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | BEST SCORE | AVERAGE | STRIKE RATE | 4/6s | WICKETS |
| 2023 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 7 | 6 | 98 | 46 | 16.33 | 132.43 | 14/2 | 2 |
| 2025 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 8 | 6 | 81 | 33 | 16.20 | 120.89 | 6/2 | 1 |
| 2026 | Gujarat Giants | 3 | 2 | 39 | 35 | 19.50 | 169.56 | 4/2 | 0 |
| Total | 18 | 14 | 218 | 46 | 16.76 | 132.92 | 24/6 | 3 |
In Giants’ first match of the continued season against UP Warriorz, she didn’t get a likelihood to bat, whereas within the second match against Delhi Capitals on Sunday (January 11), she made 4 runs from 5 balls as a No. 8 batter.
Kanika, who was born in Patiala, Punjab, on August 7, 2002, has also played three T20Is for India and in two innings scored 16 runs. She also bowled one over but was unable to take any wicket and conceded 12 runs.
She made her T20I debut for India against Malaysia within the 2022 Asian Games match played in Hangzhou on September 21, 2023, after which also featured in the primary semifinal match against Bangladesh on September 24, 2023.
Kanika Ahuja’s record in T20Is
| MATCHES | RUNS | AVERAGE | STRIKE RATE | BEST SCORE | 4/6s | WICKETS | CATCHES |
| 3 | 16 | 16.00 | 114.28 | 15 | 1/0 | 0 | 0 |
Her last T20I appearance for India was against Australia in Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium) on December 6, 2023.
Navi Mumbai, India, India
January 13, 2026, 20:42 IST
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