Kane Williamson, the star New Zealand batter, is set to miss this year’s ODI World Cup in India after scans showed that he had ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, which will require surgery to fix.
Williamson injured his leg while playing for the Gujarat Titans in the first game of the IPL 2023 against the Chennai Super Kings. Later he was ruled out of the competition and returned to New Zealand for additional scans on his knee where he now faces a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
“I’ve received tremendous support over the last few days and want to thank both the Gujarat Titans and New Zealand Cricket for that,” Williamson said in a statement released by New Zealand Cricket. “It’s understandably disappointing to sustain such an injury, but my focus now is on undergoing surgery and beginning rehabilitation.”It will take some time, but I will do everything possible to return to the field as quickly as possible. I’m looking forward to doing everything I can to help Gary and the staff over the next few months.”
The recovery period from ACL reconstructive surgery is about six months, which is how far away the World Cup in India is right now. However, Williamson is anticipated to have his surgery within the next three weeks because it is best practice to wait for the swelling in the knee to go down before surgery.
Even if he beats the expected timelines, New Zealand’s captain is unlikely to have played any games prior to the marquee event. Head coach Gary Stead, on the other hand, hasn’t entirely ruled out Williamson playing in India.
“From our perspective, we certainly haven’t given up hope on that,” he said, adding that “Kane will meet a number of milestones in the next six months or so.”
“You start with Kane the player, but then you add Kane the leader and the person he is within our group, and it throws a huge wrench in the works for us.” Our first thoughts are obviously with Kane right now; it’s a difficult time for him; it’s not an injury that you expect to happen; it comes out of nowhere and obviously hits you fairly hard at the time.”
New Zealand, who came second in the 2019 World Cup, will have to reconsider their plans for the 2023 edition. Williamson was named Player of the Competition in the previous competition in England, accumulating 578 runs from nine innings at an excellent average of 82.57 with 250
