New Zealand star and one of the world’s best batters, Kane Williamson, did;’t have a good time in India as he got himself injured in the very first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 and was ruled out of the tournament. Notably, Williamson was part of the Gujarat Titans (GT) franchise in the 16th edition of the IPL. The 32-year-old Kiwi cricketer sustained an injury during the opening match of the tournament against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The incident took place in the 13th over of the match when Williamson attempted to save a six hit by Ruturaj Gaikwad off Joshua Little’s delivery, but ended up landing on his right knee. Soon the physios of both GT and CSK checked upon Williamson, who was later replaced by Sai Sudharsan in the match.
Following the injury, the Ahmedabad-based franchise didn’t take long to announce that the right-handed batter would no longer be part of the IPL 2023 and will return to his home town. However, the seriousness of Williamson’s injury was not disclosed either by the team or by the player himself.
In the meantime, Williamson left for New Zealand and was spotted at Auckland airport on Tuesday (April 4). The video of the same was released by a local media network on its Twitter handle. In the clip, the 32-year-old can be seen walking in crutches and a knee brace.
Speaking to the reporters about his injury, Williamson said: “It’s not too painful at the moment.”
Here’s the video:
#WATCH: Hear Kiwi cricketer Kane Williamson's first comments as he touches down in NZ, after a knee injury cut short his @IPL campaign https://t.co/j8QZegWvcu (Via @AlexChapmanNZ) pic.twitter.com/5GUnkugHXa
— Newshub (@NewshubNZ) April 3, 2023
Although the extent of the injury is yet to be known, this could prove to be a big setback for the national team of New Zealand as Williamson is one of their key players, and the ODI World Cup 2023 is also lined up later this year. As far as the GT is concerned, they haven’t yet finalized the replacement of Williamson but are looking at possible options that could fit in the place of the Kiwi batter.
