The head coach of New Zealand cricket team Gary Stead has announced that Kane Williamson will have a two-week period to prove his fitness in front of the management. After this time, the Black Caps will finalise their squad for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup.
In the past two editions of the competition, New Zealand has reached the finals but they have yet to win the trophy. However, their preparation for the upcoming tournament has been less than perfect due to a series of challenges. These challenges began with Kane Williamson getting injured during the opening match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Not only this, the star all-rounder of the team, Michael Bracewell has also been ruled out from the tournament due to injury. He had a successful tour of India, and he also took part in the IPL with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), stepping in as a replacement for Will Jacks.
While talking about the injury of Kane Williamson, Gary Stead said,”We’ve got about two weeks from now until we name that side. Nothing’s changed at the moment, we’re going to give him every chance and use that full amount of time.”
He further added,”He’s in full rehab mode, he’s back batting in the nets again which is great to see. He’s progressing really well, but again there’s a lot of work for him still to do to make sure he gets to where we need him to be. So we’re going to give him the full two weeks to prove where he’s at and for us it’s still a little bit of crystal ball-gazing, where he will be at.”
Kane Williamson is part of the New Zealand squad on their tour to England. The teams are scheduled to compete in four ODIs and four T20Is, which starts from August 30.
