Kane Williamson leaves GT camp, to head back to NZ for assessment on injury

Gujarat Titans batter Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after suffering a knee injury in the IPL campaign opener against Chennai Super Kings on Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, announced the franchise on Sunday.

The franchise’s official Twitter handle posted a video of Kane sitting in a car, leaving the camp.

“Sad to be leaving so soon. I will miss the camp for sure. See you soon,” said Williamson to his fans in the video.

“See you soon, Kane! Speedy recovery, #AavaDe,” tweeted GT.

Gujarat Titans gave an update on Williamson’s injury in a tweet which said, “We regret to announce, Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the TATA IPL 2023, after sustaining an injury in the season opener against Chennai Super Kings.

“We wish our Titan a speedy recovery and hope for his early return.”

“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 Vikram Solanki in a press release. Williamson will now head home to New Zealand for further assessment. The Gujarat Titans will finalise a replacement for the right-handed batter and an announcement will be made in due course.

Williamson made an attempt to stop the ball from going over the boundary for a six during the match. He landed awkwardly on the ground and it was clear that he had ended up hurting himself while making that effort.

He was forced off the field and Sai Sudarshan came in as the impact player. Gujarat Titans went on to defeat Chennai Super Kings and secure a victory in their IPL Campaign opener by 5 wickets.

Kane Williamson was bought by GT in the IPL 2023 auction last year for ₹2 crore.

He represented Sunrisers Hyderabad since his IPL debut from his debut year in 2015 to 2022. In his IPL career, he has scored 2,101 runs in 77 matches at an average of 36.22. He has scored eighteen fifties in his career, with the best score of 89.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.