Shanaka replaces injured Williamson in Gujarat Titans squad

New Zealand batter Kane Williamson's campaign in 2023 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was cut short as he has been ruled out of the tournament after sustaining a knee injury in the opening game of the season, against Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad. Gujarat Titans on Tuesday named his replacement.

In his debut appearance for Gujarat Titans, Williamson had landed awkwardly on his knee while attempting to take a catch at the deep square leg boundary during Chennai Super Kings' innings. 

Williamson had actually grabbed the ball to stop the six from Ruturaj Gaikwad and then threw the ball in. And while it landed on the ground and then rolled towards the boundary rope for a four, Williamson was seen clutching his knee in pain. He was immediately carried off the field with B Sai Sudharsan replacing him via Impact Player rule.

A day later, following the scan reports, he was ruled out of the entire IPL 2023 tournament and he soon left for home for further assessment.

"It is sad to lose Kane to injury so early in the tournament. We wish him a speedy recovery, with the hope of seeing him in action very soon," said GT director of cricket Vikram Solanki in a press release.

There were rumours that GT might opt for Smith, with the Aussie being a like-for-like replacement for Williamson, but the top-order batter wasn't part of the IPL auction which nullifies his qualification chances. Gujarat Titans on Tuesday instead named Sri Lanka all-rounder Dasun Shanaka as Williamson's replacement.

This will be Shanaka's maiden appearance in IPL and has been roped in for his base price of INR 50 lakhs.

The Sri Lankan limited overs skipper was in sublime form in the recently held series in India where he scored 124 runs at a strike rate of 187 in the T20I series and 121 runs in the ODI contest.