Kane Williamson ruled out of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: In a major disappointment, New Zealand’s ODI captain Kane Williamson is set to miss the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, to be held in India later this year after suffering a leg injury. Williamson suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on his right knee, during the IPL 2023 opener between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on 31st March.
The Kiwi batter has returned home after getting ruled out of the Tata IPL 2023 and went for the scans to check the gravity of the injury on his right knee, which got placed awkwardly while he was attempting a catch at deep square leg boundary during GT vs CSK clash. The reports are, unfortunately, not encouraging and the batter will have to go under the knife in a couple of weeks to get his knee fixed.
As of now, the medics have refrained from operating on him and asked him to wait till the swelling is reduced, following which he will undergo surgery.
Experts in the field reckon Ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament takes at least six months to recover and rehabilitate. Thus Kane Williamson will be straight out of cricket action for at least six months, which is when the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will be held in October-November.
In a statement released by New Zealand Cricket (NZC), Kane Williamson thanked both his IPL franchise Gujarat Titans (GT) and NZC for the support.
“I’ve received great support over the past few days and want to thank both the Gujarat Titans and New Zealand Cricket for that. Naturally, it’s disappointing to get such an injury, but my focus now is on having the surgery and starting rehab,” said Kane Williamson.
“It’s going to take some time, but I’ll be doing everything I can to get back on the field as soon as possible. I look forward to doing what I can to support Gary and the team over the next few months.”
Stead hopeful for Kane Williamson’s return in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023
Meanwhile, New Zealand coach Gary Stead is still hopeful for Kane’s return on time for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and feels the batter can make it to the tournament.
“From our perspective, we certainly haven’t given up hope on that, and Kane will meet a number of milestones in the next six months or so,” said Gary Stead, New Zealand coach.
“You take Kane the player, for a first start, but then Kane the leader and the person he is within our group as well, it’s a huge spanner in the works for us. Our first thoughts, obviously, are with Kane at the moment, it’s a tough time for him, it’s not an injury that you expect is going to happen, it comes out of the blue and it obviously hits you pretty hard at the time.”
Notably, Kane Williamson’s absence from the New Zealand squad is a huge blow for the Kiwis. Kane in himself is a calm leader and knows how to effectively marshall his troops. Keeping aside his batting prowess, which apparently is second to none, Williamson instils confidence in the team with his presence.
He has been an excellent leader all this while. He took his team to the ICC Test Championship victory in 2021 and also has many final/semi-final appearances in the marquee events.
Interestingly, Tom Latham has been the man who has led New Zealand in ODI’s as the stand-in skipper. He will be captaining the side in the upcoming tour of Pakistan and will be the front-runner to don Williamson’s shoes during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
For more details head to New Zealand Cricket’s official website.