The Black Caps ace batter hasn’t played any International matches or league games since he suffered the knee injury during the opening match at the IPL 2023 on 31 March.
New Delhi: Big boost for New Zealand as captain Kane Williamson is all set to return from his long injury layoff. According to recent reports, the right-handed batter is also to play ICC ODI World Cup 2023 warm-up matches which are going to start in India this week. The Black Caps will play the opening fixture against the defending champions England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5.
The Black Caps ace batter hasn’t played any International matches or league games since he suffered the knee injury during the opening match at the Indian Premier League 2023 on 31 March. Since then, there has been a huge doubt about Williamson’s availability over his participation in the marquee tournament as he has to recover on time
In a recent interaction with media in Christchurch on 27 September, Wednesday the New Zealand skipper revealed that he is likely to play in the warm-up games and also in the World Cup 2023. “There is a strong desire to be involved as much as I can,” Kane Williamson said shortly before leaving for India for the ODI World Cup.
“Basically, it’s just wanting to progress what I am doing now – the running, the fielding, time in the middle with the bat,” he added.
The veteran batter has also updated about his knee injury and he also admitted that he is not fully fit but the positive news is he has fallen better in recent weeks. “Not a huge amount. Although the load is going to keep increasing, so there is a little bit of an unknown. But it has felt pretty good really in the last few weeks.
“Although it’s going well, you still have days that vary a little bit. So it’s working through those warm-up games to get as much out of it as I can, and as a team, without bothering it too much,” said Kane Williamson.
New Zealand World Cup squad:
Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham (vc), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young