(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] New Zealand captain and star batter Kane Williamson is in the squad for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, starting on 5th October. Williamson has been recovering from an injury he sustained during IPL 2023 while fielding for the Gujarat Titans. The injury forced him to undergo surgery on his right knee.
It was speculated that Williamson could skip the initial matches of the World Cup 2023 as he still has not completely recovered from the injury. But before arriving in India, he has clarified that he will be available for New Zealand in the World Cup warm-up matches, which will be played on 29th and 2nd October against Pakistan and South Africa respectively.
“The plan is to be involved in the warm-up games. There is a strong desire to be involved as much as I can. Basically, it’s just wanting to progress what I am doing now – the running, the fielding, time in the middle with the bat,” Williamson was quoted as saying by PTI.
When asked about whether he feels any stiffness while training or batting, Williamson replied, “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.”
Williamson led the Blackcaps in the last edition of the ICC World Cup held in 2019, in which they were defeated by England in the finals on the boundary count. This time, New Zealand will face the same opposition in the opening fixture of the World Cup on 5th October in Ahmedabad, followed by matches against Netherlands and Bangladesh on 9th and 13th October in Hyderabad and Chennai respectively.