‘Kane Williamson can be a glue of any batting line-up’- Ex-cricketer hails New Zealand batter ahead of Indian T20 League opener

The defending champions Gujarat are all set to take on MS Dhoni’s Chennai in the opening match of the Indian T20 League 2023 at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. Under the leadership of Hardik Pandya, Gujarat will be looking to repeat the heroics from the 2022 season. The franchise made its Indian T20 League debut in the previous season and emerged as the champions by defeating Rajasthan in the finals.

Gujarat already had star players like Shubman Gill, David Miller, Rashid Khan and Mohammed Shami who could play a crucial role in leading Gujarat to their second title. However, there is a new addition to the squad this year, and that is Kane Williamson. Gujarat bought the New Zealand batter for INR 2 crores in the 2023 auction. Williamson could add more depth to Gujarat’s batting order and his experience could be crucial for the franchise to succeed in the tournament.

Former South African batter, Ab de Villiers also hailed Williamso and said that he can be a glue to any batting lineup in the Indian T20 League. De Villiers, who has played for the Bangalore franchise in Indian T20 League, also feels that the Kiwi batter is very underrated as a batter in the T20s.

“Kane Williamson is an absolute rockstar player. Very underrated when it comes to T20 cricket. Everyone thinks that he plays slow, run-a-ball and then he ups it. I feel he can be a glue of any batting line-up and still go on and score at 170-180 batting strike rate,” Said De Villiers as quoted by Indian Express.

“I think Kane can just play his natural game, get himself in and then ultimately take them down. If the rest of the line-up falls around him, he is the perfect guy to take those guys to the 20th over. And that’s going to be his role,” the former cricketer further added.

‘Shubman has come a very long way with his cricket’ – AB de Villers

De Villiers also believes that it will be a good season for the young Indian batter Shubman Gill and termed him as a ‘smart cricketer.’ The 23-year-old has been in tremendous form across the formats in the past few months and could be a main anchor of Gujarat’s batting lineup in the upcoming season.

“Shubman Gill is one of those very talented players up the order that can complement someone like Kane Williamson. Shubman has come a very long way with his cricket and is almost like an experienced campaigner now even though he is still young,” De Villiers said.

De Villiers added, “He has got all the shots in his book. He is quite a tall opening batsman, strong and beats the ball in the V upfront. He has got all the shots required to take games away from teams but I also feel that he has the mind to think about the game and is a smart cricketer. The Indian T20 League 2023 is going to be a good one for him.”