Capitol Hill

Seasoned New Zealand batter Williamson sustained an injury to his right knee while attempting a catch against Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium. It is a big blow for the Titans as Williamson was expected to be the mainstay of their middle order.

There has been a lot of excitement and buzz amongst fans on social media on whether talismanic Australia batter Steve Smith would make his return to the competition as a replacement for Williamson. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar thinks if Smith joins Gujarat as a replacement player, he could even help captain Hardik Pandya with leadership duties.

CSK's Tushar Deshpande became the first Impact Player (substitute) in the IPL. He came in place of Ambati Rayudu. GT's Sai Sudharsan joined him as the second player to be picked as Impact Player, coming in as a substitute for New Zealand batter Kane Williamson, who had suffered an injury while fielding in the first innings.

Gaikwad's scintillating 92-run innings was decorated with four boundaries and nine maximums. Alzarri Joseph was the pick of the bowler, who struck twice in the 18th over after conceding 18 runs off his first over to claim the big wickets of Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja.

About playing against Dhoni, Hardik Pandya said "Almost everyone in the country has got motivation from him (Dhoni). Been a fan and admirer of him. Want boys to enjoy it. The result will take care of itself. Impact Player is different, so I've left it to (coach). Ashu pa works all night on what needs to be done."

With India all-rounder Hardik Pandya to lead Gujarat's title defence in IPL 2023, Williamson admitted that not being a captain has taken some things off his plate, citing the huge amount of energy leadership roles require. Earlier, Williamson had stepped down as New Zealand's Test captain, with Tim Southee taking over.

"Since the last season, we have been overwhelmed by the support we have received from the people of Gujarat. We invite our supporters to pre-register for tickets to our home matches and watch the Gujarat Titans in action at the world's largest cricket stadium," said Col. Arvinder Singh, COO-Gujarat Titans, in an official statement.

Touted to be one of the most dominating wicket-keeper-batters in the game, Mooney and her team Australia successfully brought home the Women's T20 World Cup in 2018, 2020 and 2023 along with the Women's ODI World Cup in 2022 and the Gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The trade marks the reunion of Ferguson with Kolkata after being part of the franchise from 2019-21. While Ferguson was acquired by Gujarat for INR 10 crores in the IPL 2022 mega auction, Gurbaz was included in their squad as a replacement for England opener Jason Roy.

Pandya recently guided Gujarat Titans to IPL glory by leading from the front and showed his captaincy and all-round skills in ample measure during the white-ball series against Ireland. He then played crucial roles in India defeating the Jos Buttler-led England to clinch the T20I and ODI series.