Why Kane Williamson Will Miss 3rd T20I Vs Pakistan? Real Reason Revealed
Kane Williamson last played T20Is in November 2022 (Twitter)
Kane Williamson will be breaking his prolonged absence from the T20I set-up and captaining New Zealand in the upcoming five-match series versus Pakistan, starting January 12.
The Kiwi batting stalwart, who last turned out in the shortest format during the home series against India in November 2022, was initially picked for the T20Is earlier in the home summer versus Bangladesh.
However, in a last-minute U-turn, the selectors and the team management decided against picking Williamson as they wished to manage the great cricketer's workload ahead of the sterner challenges of the season.
Apart from taking on Pakistan in the T20I series, New Zealand also hosts Trans-Tasman rivals Australia in 3 T20Is and 2 Tests and South Africa in another set of two World Test Championship (WTC) fixtures for the remainder of the summer in February-March.
Why Williamson Will Skip The 3rd T20I?
Williamson, however, will be playing only four matches of the series against Pakistan and skip the third T20I to be played in Dunedin on January 17.
The Kiwi legend will be giving the third game a miss since he still continues to manage his knee injury, which forced him out of action for the best part of last year.
Williamson had ruptured a ligament with his ACL injury after trying to pull off a catch in the IPL 2023 opener for Gujarat Titans (GT) and was ruled out of playing duties for the remaining six months.
He was initially considered unlikely for the ICC World Cup in India. But the cricketer's will and determination shone through as he made a speedier-than-expected recovery to take part at the business end of the tournament.
It seems, though, that the knee issue hasn't entirely vanished and remains a worry for the decision-makers, who wish to approach the matter with care and caution rather than putting Williamson through an excessive workload in the immediate months of the recovery.
In his absence at the University Oval, New Zealand will be led by stand-in skipper Mitchell Santner, who captained during the Bangladesh T20Is also. On the batting front, the selectors have called in uncapped Josh Clarkson to stand as cover for the match.
 "Kashish Chadha")
