"Kane mama returns" - Fans erupt as Kane Williamson replaces David Miller in GT's playing XI for IPL 2024 clash vs PBKS

New Zealand veteran batter Kane Williamson is playing his first game for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) against Punjab Kings (PBKS).

After being benched for the team's first three matches, he was added to the playing XI for their clash against PBKS at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, April 4. He replaced David Miller in the XI.

Williamson played just one match for GT last year. He injured his knee while fielding during the team's opening contest against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which ruled him out of the remainder of the season.

Several fans took to social media ahead of the GT vs PBKS match, sharing their excitement over Williamson's inclusion. One fan wrote:

"Kane mama returns."

Here are some other top reactions:

While Kane Williamson got injured in his first game last year, he performed underwhelmingly in 2022. The seasoned campaigner scored just 216 runs from 13 games at an average of 19.64 and an underwhelming strike rate of 93.51 for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He was released ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, where he was roped in by Gujarat for ₹2 crore

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Kane Williamson replaced David Miller in GT's playing XI for IPL 2024 encounter vs PBKS

GT will be without their star left-handed batter David Miller in their game against PBKS. Skipper Shubman Gill confirmed that the southpaw was unavailable for selection due to a niggle.

Speaking at the toss, Gill said:

"We have started off pretty well, we have got couple of games on the road after this, games on the road are important. Last year, we played away from home pretty well. David Miller misses out due to a niggle and Kane Williamson comes into the side."

Shikhar Dhawan won the toss for PBKS and elected to field first. Here are the two playing XIs for the match:

GT: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Umesh Yadav, Darshan Nalkande.

PBKS: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Jitesh Sharma(w), Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Shashank Singh, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh.