‘Aur kitna strong banna hai inhe’ – Fans react as Dasun Shanaka replaces Kane Williamson in Gujarat squad for Indian T20 League 2023

Dasun Shanaka finally got his Indian T20 League contract after being unsold in the 2023 auction. The Gujarat franchise has bought the Sri Lankan all-rounder at a base price of INR 50 lakh as a replacement for Kane Williamson. It is to be noted that Williamson has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament after sustaining a knee injury in the first match against Chennai in Ahmedabad.

The New Zealand batter had a terrible fall while attempting to stop the ball from going over the fence which led to pressure on his knees. He was taken off the field immediately and went on to get ruled out of the remaining season. In a video, Williamson was seen walking at the airport with the help of crutches and he is set to undergo surgery in New Zealand.

The inclusion of Shanaka could add more strength to the strong squad of the Gujarat franchise. The T20I captain of Sri Lanka is currently leading his side in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. The 31-year-old has appeared in 6 Tests, 50 ODIs, and 87 T20Is for Sri Lanka scoring 2574 runs and taking 55 wickets across the formats.

The defending champions had a great start to the season

Shanuka had a great outing in the white ball series where he scored 124 runs in three T20Is at a strike rate of 187.87. He was also the player of the match in Sri Lanka’s win against India in the 2022 Asia Cup, where he scalped 2 wickets and remained unbeaten on 33 runs while chasing 174 runs. Later, he went on to lead his team to the title by defeating Pakistan in the final by 23 runs.

The defending champions Gujarat had a great start in the 2023 season under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya as they went on win their first two matches consecutively. In their first match of the tournament, they defeated Chennai by 5 wickets in Ahmedabad. After that, they defeated Delhi by 6 wickets at the Arun Jaitley stadium on Tuesday. Gujarat will take on Kolkata at the Narendra Modi Stadium on April 9.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Dasun Shanaka’s news

pic.twitter.com/uIkCFLLoKm

— Fluky Cricketer (@flukycricketer) April 4, 2023

Kane Williamson pic.twitter.com/mZlIlsbhfp

— Dhoni biggest fan (@SureshDhod) April 4, 2023

https://twitter.com/desirobelinda/status/1643270933862313986

https://twitter.com/IamShaktiMann/status/1643270906415038465

Great All rounder pic.twitter.com/52ct4glv5b

— Jorge Reddy (@reddy_jorge) April 4, 2023

https://twitter.com/IamShaktiMann/status/1643274163396947972

Gujarat Titans Middle order

– Pandya
– Miller
– Tewatia
– Shanaka

Then
– Rashid Khan to follow in lower order

That's box office stuff

— Ash (@Ashsay_) April 4, 2023

https://twitter.com/DrAshishPradhan/status/1643272165653983240