- Friday, April 25, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
New Zealand white-ball captain Kane Williamson’s participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 has come under scanner in the very first match after he suffered an injury in his right knee while fielding during his team Gujarat Titans’ inaugural encounter with Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat on Friday (31).
Williamson, 32, suffered the injury when he had a nasty fall while fielding on the boundary. It was the 13th over of the Super Kings’ batting and the New Zealander was seen limping off the ground.
The extent of his injury is not yet known, but going by what was seen on Friday night, it did not seem a minor injury. Williamson, who was making his Gujarat Titans debut, intercepted a ball headed for a possible six off CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad’s bat.
He managed to palm the ball into the field of play before it bounced onto the boundary ropes. But he fell awkwardly on the ground and clutched his right knee in pain.
He was taken off after receiving on-field treatment and did not come back to bat with B Sai Sudharsan coming in as a substitute fielder first and later he took Williamson’s place in the Titans’ playing XI under the Impact Player rule. Titans, who are the defending champions, won the game by five wickets by Chennai set them a target of 179 in 20 overs.
Titans captain Hardik Pandya said at the post-match press conference that he did not know how serious was Williamson’s injury.
“It is knee (injury) for sure but I don’t have any update about what exactly has happened. I don’t know how serious the injury is and how much time it will take (to heal). Right now there is no time frame,” Pandya said.
“I had just messaged him. He (Williamson) has gone for the scans, once he comes back after the scans and doctors check (on him), then only we will be able to know what exactly it is.”
In Auckland, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said Williamson’s injury was a big blow to the national team.
“Our first thoughts are obviously with him, we’re not sure at this stage of the severity of the injury. He’s being assessed in the next 24-48 hours, so we will know more after that,” said Stead, who had spoken to Williamson since the incident and found him in “OK” spirits.
“All we know at this stage is it’s his right knee. Unfortunately I can’t give you much more than that now until we find out more information,” Stead was quoted as saying by www.stuff.co.nz.
“It’s not nice to see anyone, let alone your captain of your white ball team, being injured. It’s a big blow for him, and it’s a big blow for us.”
Williamson had played for Sunrisers Hyderabad since 2015, and captained them fully in 2018 and 2022, and partially in 2019 and 2021.
The ace batter has played 77 matches in the IPL since 2015, scoring 2,101 runs with 18 half-centuries and strike rate of 126.
(With PTI inputs)
