Gujarat Titans purchased Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka for Rs 50 Lakhs replacing Kane Williamson for the remainder of the Indian Premier League 2023 season.
Shanaka will be featuring in Indian Premier League history for the first time after some brilliant knocks on their tour of India this year. Gujarat Titans have performed brilliantly so far in this year’s IPL with 2 successive wins.
The Sri Lankan all-rounder is currently leading the side in New Zealand with the series equal at 1-1 with 1 game to spare. Kane Williamson injured his knee while fielding during the opening match against Chennai Super Kings and did not take part in that match.
Here we look at the 3 reasons why Dasun Shanaka replacing Kane Williamson is a great move by Gujarat Titans.
- All-round abilities
Dasun Shanaka has done well for Sri Lanka with both bat and ball in recent times during shorter formats. With the signing of an all-rounder, Gujarat Titans will benefit that contributions across all three departments.
He can produce some match-winning knocks coming lower down the order and put enough pressure on the opponent bowlers right from word go. Shanaka has scored so far 1332 runs from 87 matches (82 innings) for Sri Lanka with a strike rate of 121.34. Along with this, he has picked 25 wickets to his name.
The conditions in the second half of IPL 16 will help Shanaka and can be used smartly. It is a major boost for the Gujarat Titans side who are looking in brilliant form so far.
- Help in captaincy
Dasun Shanaka has lots of experience captaining the Sri Lankan team in the T20I format since 2019 and ODI since 2021 with a total of 68 matches.
Since becoming the captain of the Sri Lankan side, Dasun Shanaka has bought fresh energy to the team. Under his captaincy, Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup title after a gap of eight years defeating the likes of Pakistan and India.
With Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra’s and other coaching support staff communication going on brilliantly so far, Shanaka could add his useful suggestions to the Gujarat Titans camp.
- Delivers in crunch situations
Shanaka has done well with the bat for Sri Lanka in recent times. The fans were asking for the inclusion of an all-rounder for quite a long time.
He looked in sensational form during the T20I series against India this year with 124 runs from 3 matches with a strike rate of 187.88. His form continued smashing an unbeaten 100 century against India in the first ODI match at Guwahati.
For the last few years, Shanaka has been the backbone of Sri Lanka’s batting lineup to bail them out of precious situations. Gujarat Titans performed brilliantly with different match winners, Shanaka is another top-quality induvial who will strengthen their squad to deliver in crunch situations.
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