How is Kane Williamson? Tom Latham reveals

Kane Williamson will miss New Zealand’s opening match against England in the World Cup 2023. The match is scheduled to be played on Thursday, October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. However, Tom Latham sounded hopeful and confident about Williamson’s recovery from the injury.

What Latham says?

The stand-in captain for the New Zealand team said in the pre-match presser, “I guess any team that doesn’t have Kane in it is obviously, you know, we’d certainly be better off having him but I think from our point of view for him to be here, to be at the World Cup is a testament to – I think the work that he’s put on over the last four to five months to be where he is and I think it’s nearly six months post-surgery and for him to be given a shot, to be given a chance to play in the World Cup at some point is really a testament to the work that he’s put in.”

What happened to Kane Williamson?

Kane Williamson sustained a knee injury earlier this year while playing the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League. He underwent surgery after that for a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee. He has been out of action since then and hasn’t played any form of cricket in last six months. He managed to be part of New Zealand’s World Cup squad this year albeit.

Kane Williamson looked good in the warm-up matches of the World Cup against Pakistan and South Africa with an unbeaten 54 and 37 respectively. Latham echoed the same and said, “So for him, it’s a day-by-day process in terms of where his recovery is at. He’s obviously played a little bit of a part of the last two warm-up games. You know he’s been batting beautifully, which is great to see and he was out in the field a couple of days ago, so he’s progressing really nicely and fingers crossed he’s on the park sooner rather than later.”

Not Just Kane Williamson, but Tim Southee will also not feature in the match against England. Reportedly, Southee is yet to recover from the thumb injury that he sustained last month at the Lord’s.