The New Zealand team’s ODI World Cup 2023 opener against England is scheduled to be missed because Kane Williamson, the captain, is still recovering from a knee injury that put him in danger of missing the entire tournament. In the rematch of the dramatic World Cup final from 2019, which the English team won, Tom Latham will take the New Zealand team’s helm against England in place of Williamson.
According to New Zealand Cricket, which announced the announcement via its website, Williamson would only play in the team’s inaugural exhibition game against Pakistan in Hyderabad as a batsman. The New Zealanders intend to assess their captain’s fielding abilities in their next encounter against South Africa.
In April, Williamson had an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that required surgery. The head coach for New Zealand discussed the captain’s return to fitness. He said, “Right from the start, we’ve taken a long-term approach to Kane’s return to play. His recovery is going well, and now the challenge will be getting him ready for the rigours and intensity of international cricket.”
Kane Williamson in ODI World Cup 2023:
In Gary Stead’s words, “We’ll continue to take a day-by-day approach to Kane’s rehabilitation and certainly won’t be putting any pressure on him to return before he is ready.”
The right-handed hitter hasn’t taken part in any competitive cricket since being hurt during the IPL. He travelled to England with the New Zealand team to play four T20Is and subsequently a similar number of ODIs. Williamson declared he would think about transferring to a different fielding position when he made his way back onto the pitch following his injury.
Kane Williamson ruled out of the opening match of the 2023 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/CpVdPjoKrU
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 29, 2023
The New Zealand captain said, “We will probably take some of things into consideration. I typically field in the middle of the field, and that probably won’t change. more suited than the wicket square, most likely. Possibly some slip, but I won’t be standing there if we don’t require one.”
For the unversed, A One Day International (ODI) is a game of limited-overs cricket in which two international teams compete. Each team faces a specific amount of overs, now 50, over the game’s nine-hour duration. This format is used to play the Cricket World Cup, which is typically held every four years.
So, this was all about the ODI World Cup 2023. Also read, Fans react to Akshay Totre as umpire in ODI World Cup 2023.
