"Two titles in a row for Gujarat Titans?" - Fans react as GT sign Dasun Shanaka as injured Kane Williamson’s replacement

Gujarat Titans (GT) have named Sri Lanka white-ball captain Dasun Shanaka as a replacement for the injured Kane Williamson in the ongoing IPL 2023.

The all-rounder is an explosive middle-order batter who bowls right-arm seam. He smashed 124 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 187 while averaging 62 during the recently concluded T20I series in India.

For the uninitiated, Shanaka was also the leading runscorer for Sri Lanka in the ODI series against India, amassing 121 runs in three games. The 31-year-old joins GT for his base price of Rs 50 lakh.

GT fans were delighted as Dasun Shanaka joined GT for the IPL 2023. One tweeted:

"Dasun Shanaka will make GT even stronger. Two titles in a row for Gujarat Titans?"

Here are some of the other Twitter reactions:

Overall, Dasun Shanaka has played 181 T20s, scoring 3702 runs, including three centuries and 15 fifties. He has also scalped 59 wickets. He will also bring leadership traits like Williamson to the squad.

Why Dasun Shanaka replaced Kane Williamson in GT squad for IPL 2023?

For the uninitiated, Williamson suffered an on-field injury to his right leg while attempting to complete a catch on the boundary ropes in their opening game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 31. He was forced off the field and Sai Sudarshan came in as an impact player. GT, though, went on to win the game by five wickets against CSK.

In a recent press release, GT stated:

"We regret to announce, Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the TATA IPL 2023, after sustaining an injury in the season opener against Chennai Super Kings. We wish our Titan a speedy recovery and hope for his early return.”

It added:

“It is sad to lose Kane to injury so early in the tournament. We wish him a speedy recovery, with the hope of seeing him in action very soon.”

Kane Williamson also expressed his disappointment after being ruled out of the IPL 2023.

"Sad to be leaving so soon. I will miss the camp for sure. See you soon," said Williamson to his fans in the video shared by the franchise.

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GT full squad for IPL 2023

Squad strength 25 players (Overseas 8)

Dasun Shanaka, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad.