Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh, starting on March 20 in Dunedin, as he has to rest and rehabilitate from a left elbow injury. New Zealand’s all-format skipper has a small tear in his left elbow tendon and is said to have been experiencing irritation since the second half of the summer.
NZC medical manager Dayle Shackel confirmed that Williamson had been managing the injury throughout the summer, but there was no improvement, because of which he is in need of a period of rest and rehabilitation.
“Kane’s been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn’t improved,” Shackel said. “He obviously has a high volume of training and playing across the three formats, which has inhibited his ability to recover. We believe he now needs a period of rest and rehabilitation to get the injury right.
“Time-frames can vary but we’re hopeful that, after an initial rest, he should be able to begin rehabilitation next week,” Shackel added.
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead revealed how difficult the decision was for the skipper to take a step back, but keeping in mind the busy year of cricket ahead, it was inevitable. New Zealand will hope for a quick recovery as they travel to England for a two-Test series in June, followed by the World Test Championship final against India from July 18. New Zealand cannot afford to head into either of the two assignments without their best batsman and leader.
“Kane loves playing for his country – so it hasn’t been an easy decision to step back,” Stead said. “A batsman’s front elbow is crucial to his game and with the injury not improving it was clear something needed to be done.”
“We’ve got a huge year of cricket ahead with an England Test tour and ICC World Test Championship Final first up in May and June [June and July], and we want to make sure we have Kane fit and firing for that,” Stead added.
It also remains to be seen what impact this decision has on Williamson’s IPL participation for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the upcoming season that begins in exactly a month’s time.
