Kane Williamson Injury: Fans want these players to replace Kiwi batter in IPL 2023

Many woke up to the unfortunate news of New Zealand icon Kane Williamson prematurely exiting IPL 2023. Playing for Gujarat Titans in the opening game of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League, Williamson suffered an injury in his right knee while trying to stop a ball that flew off Chennai Super Kings batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad's bat. Landing awkwardly on his right leg, the 32-year-old Kiwi batter injured his knee and following an examination, he has been ruled out from the remainder of IPL 2023.

As a marquee player, Kane Williamson will most definitely leave behind a big void in the Gujarat Titans team and the team management will be keen on finding a fitting replacement. Netizens and fans, too, are in on this and one finds a number of names cropping up on social media to take Williamson's place in the Titans' top order. 

Many of them reckon that Aussie batter Steve Smith could be the like-to-like replacement of Kane Williamson, considering that the former went unsold in the main auctions held ahead of IPL 2022. Smith had opted out of registering himself for the mini-auction that took place in December of 2022, but would later decide on being of IPL 2023 as part of the broadcast team. Speaking about this, Smith said that he isn't sure about qualifying.

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Another likely replacement is the Aussie left-hander Travis Head who went unsold in the auctions. Head, aside from being incredibly experienced in all formats of the game, is well-known for his flamboyance and attacking play. Many fans are strongly rooting for Travis Head to join the team.

Fellow New Zealander Daryl Mitchell, who went unsold with a base price of Rs. 1 crore, could come in for Kane Williamson and employ his flair as a right-hand batsman. Should Mitchell be part of the Gujarat Titans setup, he can come in extremely handy as a medium pacer. 

Netizens are extremely keen on Sri Lankan white-ball captain Dasun Shanaka joining Gujarat Titans, stating that he has all the chops to be a match-winner. Shanaka, who boasts a great record against India, could exploit the near-home conditions and become a valid addition to the studded Titans team. He, too, went unsold in the previous year's auctions.

Another solid replacement option is the elegant English batter Dawid Malan, who went unsold after entering the auctions with a base price of Rs. 1.5 crores. The former T20 world #1 batsman made his IPL debut for the Punjab Kings in 2021 and that remains his only game in the high-profile league. 

All said and done, in all likeliness, Hardik Pandya and Gujarat Titans will bring Matthew Wade in and hope that the dashing Australian batsman serves them best. Wade has proven himself as a match-winenr in the short format of the game and even won the semifinal game against Pakistan in the 2021 men's T20 world cup.