“I didn’t register for the auction”, Steve Smith clears air about Kane Williamson’s replacement for IPL 2023

Kane Williamson has been ruled out of IPL 2023. He suffered the issue while fielding in the first game against CSK. Here, we take a look as Australian cricketer Steve Smith clears the air about Kane Williamson’s replacement for IPL 2023.

Smith will not be Kane Williamson’s replacement

After Kane Williamson was ruled out of IPL 2023, many felt that Steve Smith would be the apt replacement. However, Smith had not registered for the event and hence, he is not eligible to play. He himself talked about it recently.

Steven Smith said, "I didn't register for the auction, so I'm not eligible to be anyone's replacement in IPL 2023".

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 1, 2023

Now that Steve Smith is out of contention, GT might look at options such as Travis Head. If the team wants to strengthen its lower middle order, they could opt for Dasun Shanaka, who has done well on Indian pitches. Kusal Mendis is also another low-key option that GT can consider. The franchise has been successful with most of the decisions made recently and hence, it will be interesting to see whom they pick.

A big blow for the defending champions

One of the missing aspects for Gujarat Titans, despite their win, last year was a stable batter in the top order. Shubman Gill did well but he is fairly new to the league when compared with the likes of KL Rahul and Jos Buttler. Hence, a player like Kane Williamson was needed for the team when there is a collapse or if the conditions are hard. Therefore, Gujarat Titans made the move of going for the Kiwi and they got him at the player’s base price.

However, with the ruling out of Kane, GT will have to chalk out a different strategy for the rest of the tournament. Someone like Matthew Wade could come at the top of the order while the team can also derive a tactic based on the player who would replace Kane. It needs to be seen if the Kiwi’s absence would affect the squad.