'Der aaye durust aaye' - Fans react as Dasun Shanaka replaces Kane Williamson in Gujarat setup for Indian T20 League 2023

The defending champions of the Indian T20 League Gujarat are clashing against the Delhi-based franchise in the 7th match of the 16th edition of the cash-rich league on Tuesday, April 4 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The Hardik Pandya-led side won their opening match against the four-time champion Chennai by 5 wickets.

However, during the first match, Gujarat suffered a huge blow as their new addition, Kane Williamson injured his knee while saving a six. There were lots of assumptions about who will be the replacement of Williamson for the remaining matches of the league. And now, the franchise have officially announced that Sri Lanka's captain and star allrounder Dasun Shanaka will be replacing the Kiwi batter.

Kane Williamson returned to New Zealand for treatment

Taking about Williamson's injury, he landed awkwardly while trying to take a catch at the deep square leg boundary during his first game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. This happened in the 13th over of Chennai's innings. He jumped to save a ball that was being hit by Ruturaj Gaikwad's bat for six.

Williamson was on the ground clutching his right knee when he palmed the ball into the field of play, sparing two runs before it went onto the boundary boards. He received care for a while, but he didn't participate in the game after that. After this, Williamson has gone back to New Zealand to have an additional medical evaluation and care for his knee injuries.

Dasun Shanaka is a batting all-rounder, who has participated in 181 T20 matches, accumulating 3702 runs at a strike rate of 141.94 and claiming 59 wickets with an economy rate of 8.8. In the three T20Is matches, Sri Lanka played in India in January this year, he scored 124 runs at a strike rate of 187.87. He will be making his Indian T20 League debut for Gujarat.

Here's how fans reacted:

GT khel Gaya.

— Sultan𓃵 (@its_sultan18) April 4, 2023

Great replacement, Shanaka finally gets his IPL spot

— ABDul Sohail (@Kingof9realms24) April 4, 2023

Finally Dasun Shanaka ❤️

— Harsh Tegta (@tegtaharsh97) April 4, 2023

Kaptaan in place of kaptaan 👍

— Rohit Bector (@rohit_bector) April 4, 2023

Aag laga di aag laga di aag laga di 🔥🔥🔥

— CRICK-HEART 🇮🇳💙 (@KOneStatus1) April 4, 2023

Bahod badiya ❤️💯✌️

— Yogesh Giri (@GiriYogi1998) April 4, 2023

Finally A team choosed him😭

— Husain (@husain_tweets18) April 4, 2023

W for GT pic.twitter.com/96kMNM3ajB

— Yash. (@iYashTweets) April 4, 2023