GT vs CSK: ‘Kane Williamson can be a glue of any batting line-up, Shubman Gill will compliment him’ says AB de Villiers

Former South African and RCB batter AB de Villiers reckons that Kane Williamson shall be an important factor of the Gujarat Titans’ batting order within the IPL 2023.

Ahead of tonight’s opener in opposition to MS Dhoni’s CSK, De Villiers hailed Williamson and stated that the latter is an absolute rockstar and that he generally is a glue for any batting line-up within the IPL.

“Kane Williamson is an absolute rockstar player. Very underrated when it comes to T20 cricket. Everyone thinks that he plays slow, run-a-ball and then he ups it. I feel he can be a glue of any batting line-up and still go on and score at 170-180 batting strike rate,” he stated.

Williamson, who performed for Sunrisers Hyderabad for the final eight years, was launched by the franchise forward of the 2023 season and was roped in by Gujarat Titans for his base value of ₹2 crore.

“I think Kane can just play his natural game, get himself in and then ultimately take them down. If the rest of the line-up falls around him, he is the perfect guy to take those guys to the 20th over. And that’s going to be his role,” De Villiers added.

The veteran batter then went on to heap reward on GT’s explosive opener Shubman Gill and stated that he’s a seasoned campaigner at this level and that the 2023 version of the event shall be good for him.

“Shubman Gill is one of those very talented players up the order that can compliment someone like Kane Williamson. Shubman has come a very long way with his cricket and is almost like an experienced campaigner now even though he is still young.”

Warning! 🛑
Shub-Man at work ⚠#AavaDe #TATAIPL2023 @ShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/oNTZCqk33O

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) March 29, 2023

“He has got all the shots in his book. He is quite a tall opening batsman, strong and beats the ball in the V upfront. He has got all the shots required to take games away from teams but I also feel that he has the mind to think about the game and is a smart cricketer. The IPL 2023 is going to be a good one for him,” he added.

Gill performed an important function within the Gujarat Titans’ batting unit’s maiden IPL triumph. He completed IPL 2022 as GT’s second-highest run scorer with 483 runs in 16 innings, solely behind skipper Hardik Pandya (487).