Injured Kane Williamson ruled out of IPL 2023 in huge blow for Gujarat Titans, to head back to New Zealand

Gujarat Titans batter sustained an injury during the season opener against Chennai Super Kings.

Kane Williamson will take no further part in the IPL 2023 after the Gujarat Titans batter was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury. Williamson hurt his right knee while trying to save a six during his team's season opener against Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Gujarat Titans' Kane Williamson is helped by teammates back to the pavilion. (AFP)

Although he was able to stop the ball from going above the boundary, Williamson jarred his knee while landing on the ground and immediately went down after being appearing in what looked like agonising pain. Williamson was immediately attended to by the physios but after careful monitoring, was helped off the field by the Titans support staff. Despite multiple attempts, Williamson couldn't return as GT called in B Sai Sudarshan as substitute before naming him the Impact Player.

"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," said coach Vikram Solanki in a release shared by Gujarat Titans.

As Williamson prepares to head back home to New Zealand for further examination of his knee, GT announced that they will announce a replacement in due time. Williamson's unfortunate association with injury doesn't seem to end and comes at the wrong time not only for GT but also New Zealand. He had recently recovered from a long-standing elbow injury which had pulled him down in the last couple of years.

New Zealand coach Gary Stead had previously shared an unencouraging update on Williamson's injury predicting the worst. "I had just messaged him. He (Williamson) has gone for the scans, once he comes back after the scans and doctors check (on him), then only we will be able to know what exactly it is," he had said.