Kane Williamson Ruled Out of IPL 2023

image-lfyxylu5Williamson got his knee injured vs CSK (AP Photo)

In a heart-wrenching update, New Zealand captain and Gujarat Titans' foreign recruit Kane Williamson has officially been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, after sustaining a knee injury during his team's fixture against Chennai Super Kings on Friday.

In the first innings of IPL 2023’s curtain-raiser, Williamson, while attempting to pull back the ball mid-air near the boundary, landed awkwardly on his right knee to get it poorly injured. However, the 32-year-old Kiwi did save two runs for his side, but in exchange for a daunting injury, which could hamper his World Cup dream.

The state of Williamson’s injury is still unclear; however, he won’t be back on the field anytime soon.

The New Zealander will now head back home for further assessment of his injury. Meanwhile, his IPL franchise has wished him a speedy recovery. 

In the clash against CSK, after Williamson’s injury, Gujarat got in an Impact player in the form of Sai Sudharsan, who fared well for them at the Narendra Modi Stadium, scoring a crucial 17-ball 22.


Replacement for Williamson

Just after the BlackCaps got injured, a few suggestions to replace him started to float up in the air. First was Steve Smith, who didn’t give him his name during the IPL Auction ahead of IPL 2023. 

However, the gun Aussie batter cleared all the rumours by himself, stating that he won’t be coming in as a replacement for Williamson.

Apart from Smith; his country mate Travis Head, upcoming English batter Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Kusal Mendis are the front-runners who could be drafted into the defending champions' squad.

Although it is understood that the Sri Lankan top order batter will be a nod ahead of the Australian and English batters.

Mendis, who kept his base price of INR 50 Lakhs in the auction, hasn’t featured in the IPL yet. However, his prowess can prove to be commendable for Hardik Pandya and co. as he brings in an additional craft of wicketkeeping.

Nevertheless, after beginning their IPL campaign on a high, Gujarat will next face a hurt Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.