The captain of New Zealand Kane Williamson will not be available for the Kiwis’ opening match of the 2023 ODI World Cup against the defending champions England at the Narendra Modi Stadium on October 5.
As per an official announcement from New Zealand Cricket, Kane Williamson is scheduled to participate in the upcoming warm-up match against Pakistan on Friday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, but he will be playing solely as a batsman.
Williamson suffered a Knee injury during the first match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) while playing for the Gujarat Titans (GT). This injury sidelined him for an extended period and he then put his efforts to make a comeback for the upcoming edition of the ODI World Cup 2023.
During his rehabilitation process, Kane Williamson was included in the New Zealand squad that toured England, but he did not play any match for the team before selection.
The statement from the New Zealand cricket reads, “BLACK CAPS captain Kane Williamson will miss the opening game of the ICC Cricket World Cup against England, as he continues to progress his knee rehabilitation.”
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It continued,”Williamson will play as a batsman-only in today’s first warm-up match against Pakistan in Hyderabad, with the aim of batting and fielding in Monday’s second and final warm-up against South Africa in Trivandrum.”
As per the reports, in absence of Kane Williamson, Tom Latham is set to take charge of the team in the warm-up game against Pakistan.
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