Kane Williamson ruled out of IPL 2023

Kane Williamson ruled out of IPL 2023 after sustaining knee injury in campaign opener

Williamson had a bad fall while fielding on the deep square leg boundary in the IPL 2023 curtain-raiser against CSK.

Gujarat Titans’ Kane Williamson suffered a serious injury to his right knee while fielding on the deep square leg boundary in the team’s campaign opener against Chennai Super Kings on Friday, March 31. The Kiwi batter looked in deep pain as he was taken off the field just after 13 overs of his first game for the Titans.

He managed to stop the ball from going over the ropes, before it eventually bounced back and touched the boundary line, but injured his knee while landing after the jump. After both teams’ physio’s looked after Williamson on the sidelines, he was taken back to the dressing room soon. As a result, Titans brought in Sai Sudharshan as their Impact Player for the second innings.

The extent of the injury is still unknown, but as per a report by Sports Tak, it is believed that Williamson has been ruled out of the remainder of IPL 2023. An official update from the Gujarat Titans management is still awaited.

Defending champions Gujarat Titans secure a win to kickstart IPL 2023 in style

Speaking of how the game panned out, Gujarat Titans won the toss and elected to chase. Chennai Super Kings were handed an early blow when Devon Conway was dismissed, but Ruturaj Gaikwad kept the scoreboard ticking. The youngster was at his best and made the most during his time on the field. He notched up 92 runs in 50 deliveries and his knock included nine big sixes and four fours.

But he did not receive much support from other batters, which led to CSK losing momentum in the first innings. Skipper MS Dhoni notched up a four and a six in the final stages of the innings which helped CSK finish at 178/7.

In reply, Gujarat Titans’ opener, the in-form Shubman Gill, fired with the bat and notched up 63 runs off 36 balls, and combined efforts from the batting unit followed by Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan’s finishing skills helped the Titans finish off the chase easily with four balls to spare.

3 Players Who Can Replace Kane Williamson in Gujarat Titans

David Miller:

South African batter and former Punjab Kings skipper David Miller will be the first choice to replace Williamson in the side. The left-handed batter was on fire in the IPL last year, and the franchise will hope he continues the same show this year as well. He was not available for the first match due to national team commitments but will play in the upcoming matches.

Matthew Wade:

Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade is another senior batter who can come in for Williamson. Even though he struggled to score big runs in the IPL last year, he has the experience of playing in big matches and could be a game changer.

KS Bharat:

In case GT looks for an Indian option, then wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat could get a chance in the playing XI. He impressed during his time with RCB in 2021 as a top-order batter and could do the damage this year as well if called upon.