Kane Williamson ruled out of IPL 2023 with knee injury sustained in opening game vs CSK - Reports

The Kiwi landed badly while fielding at the deep and looked in immediate discomfort.

Kane Williamson, who was making his debut for Gujarat Titans in the opening match of the 2023 IPL against Chennai Super Kings, suffered a knee injury and was carried off the field after 13 overs of play. Williamson looked to be in excruciating pain and did not return to bat in the second innings.

He was replaced by Sai Sudharshan through the impact player rule. As per reports, Williamson is ruled out of the remainder of the 2023 IPL, and an official update from Gujarat Titans is expected to announce the same.

How the injury took place

Irish quick Joshua Little, who became the first bowler from Ireland to nab an IPL wicket, was bowling the thirteenth over of the first innings. Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya had won the toss and elected to field first.

CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had raced to 70 from 34 balls, was on strike for the second delivery. Little’s change of pace delivery was swatted towards the deep mid-wicket boundary where Williamson was patrolling the ropes.

He caught the ball and threw it back up as he almost stepped onto the boundary ropes, but in the process, landed awkwardly and his right knee took substantial damage. 

The medical team and some players assisted in carrying Williamson off. Impact substitute Sai Sudharshan steadied the ship after Wriddhiman Saha’s early dismissal, scoring 22. Aided by Shubman Gill’s 63 and late heroics from Rashid Khan and Vijay Shankar, Gujarat Titans extended their unbeaten streak over CSK to three matches and managed to chase down 179 with five wickets in hand.

Rahul Tewatia applied the finishing touches after a sluggish start to his innings, Earlier, Ruturaj Gaikwad missed out on a century, finishing with a 50-ball-92. 

Who can replace Kane Williamson ?

Number three was a problematic position for GT last season, and have tried a number of players there such as Sai Sudharshan, Vijay Shankar, Matthew Wade and Hardik Pandya himself. Williamson was brought in to rotate the strike and hold one end down while the batsmen at the other end accelerate in the middle overs. Sudharshan can be a like-for-like swap at three, or Matthew Wade can come in higher up the order and do a destructive job.

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