The 2023 Indian Premier League kicked off on Friday with Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans registering a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side put 179/7 in 20 overs after being invited to bat; Titans chased down the target with four balls remaining, thus kickstarting their title-defence in style. However, the GT faced a massive setback early into the season, as their star batter Kane Williamson faced a big injury in their very first game.
While going for a catch at deep midwicket area, Williamson landed rather awkwardly on his right leg and seemed to hurt his knee; he was carried away from the field straightaway and took no further part in the match. It is now speculated that the New Zealand star could be ruled out of the entire tournament; Williamson was one of the players Titans bought in the auction last year.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, however, has suggested a replacement for Williamson for the Titans; Manrjekar believes that Australia star Steve Smith could easily be a like-for-like replacement for Williamson, adding that the Aussie batter could also help Pandya with key captaincy decisions. Smith had recently led Australia to a 2-1 win in the ODI series against India, and was also the captain of the side in Australia's only win in the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy this year.
{{/usCountry}}Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, however, has suggested a replacement for Williamson for the Titans; Manrjekar believes that Australia star Steve Smith could easily be a like-for-like replacement for Williamson, adding that the Aussie batter could also help Pandya with key captaincy decisions. Smith had recently led Australia to a 2-1 win in the ODI series against India, and was also the captain of the side in Australia's only win in the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy this year.
{{/usCountry}}“I think that would be a brilliant call, and Steve Smith is the kind of player they want, somebody who can play all kinds of gears," Manjrekar told Star Sports.
"Plus with the new rules which he finds very cool, I’d love to see Smith's captaincy, we saw that and we were raving about it in the India-Australia series. And Hardik Pandya, needs a bit of help, he confessed, ‘I have no idea what my tactics are, so I’m going to leave it to the others.’ So, that could be a great call actually.”
Smith had recently joined Star Sports as one of the experts on the panel for the 2023 Indian Premier League.