New Zealand star Kane Williamson, who played the opening game of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 31, has been ruled out of the entire tournament due to a knee injury.
During his debut game for the Titans, Williamson sustained a knee injury while attempting to take a catch near the deep-square leg boundary at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. The injury occurred when he jumped to prevent a ball hit by Ruturaj Gaikwad from going for six.
Although Williamson managed to save two runs by palming the ball into the field of play before it crossed the boundary, he fell awkwardly on his right foot and injured his knee in the process. Despite receiving medical attention on the field, Williamson was unable to continue playing and was forced to leave the field.
Using the Impact Player rule, B Sai Sudharsan was brought on as a substitute fielder by the Titans. The injury came at a crucial moment in the match as Ruturaj Gaikwad was in excellent form, having scored 71 runs off just 36 balls. If the Black Caps icon had managed to take the catch, it would have been a spectacular feat. Notably, Gaikwad went on to make 92 off 50.
Big blow to Gujarat Titans as Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the IPL 2023 due to the knee injury #Breaking @sports_tak
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) April 1, 2023
The Gt vs CSK contest was Williamson’s debut outing for the Titans, his first new IPL team in eight seasons. He has played for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) since 2015 and captained them fully in 2018 and 2022 and partially in 2019 and 2021.
Overall, Williamson has played 77 matches in the lucrative tournament, scoring 2101 runs at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 126.03, including 18 half-centuries.
