Just How Big a Blow is Kane Williamson's Exit From NZ's World Cup Plans?
A knee injury will likely keep Williamson out of the World Cup [Source: Twitter]
In what could have been called a dramatic development concerning New Zealand Cricket and its future plans, it came to be known in August 2022 that none other than Trent Boult was about to be relieved of his central contract.
This was dramatic and little else would've sufficed in that it weren't the coaches or the administrators who called for this step; by self admission, the famous left arm medium pacer, one of the jewels of New Zealand cricket had requested to be released so that he could spend more time with the family and participate in other T20 leagues.
That was over half a year back in time. A few weeks later, a similar piece of news came to light; this time with Jimmy Neesham, New Zealand's charismatic all rounder in midst of it.
Cut to April 2023. We are only a quarter into the new year. The most promising and inarguably speaking, the biggest ICC men's ODI event of the year, i.e., the World Cup is due to begin in October.
And well before New Zealand cricket's thinkers and doers could gather themselves in the drawing board to make plans for the big tournament ahead, in comes a piece of news that leaves not just Kiwi fans but the cricket tragics shell shocked. And without overstating it, sad.
Keen and able, ever curious to learn about his own shortcomings in the game, gentle cricketer, New Zealand legend and one of the famous members of the 'Fab Four' Kane Williamson is out of the 50-over Men's World Cup.
A freak injury sustained at the outfield in one of the recent IPL games for his Hyderabad outfit, the sun has set pretty much in 2023 for Sunrisers' Kane Williamson.
Truth be told, it is one of those weird occurances where deploying oneself in the IPL has left a huge or gaping void for one's forthcoming national duties.
That doesn't mean that the Indian Premier League, the necessary evil that has rescued international cricket in this TRP-defining and viewership-driven age, is unimportant.
But sure, purely from a New Zealand perspective, this is no minor loss; it is colossal purely from the point of view of what Kane Williamson can and has achieved, often times on his own.
That his team will sorely miss him is akin to saying that during this year's monsoons, the roads in an Indian town devoid of civil infrastructure will be waterlogged or choked and in a state of mess.
It's understood. It's that obvious that you needn't say it.
And in order to gauge the Kane Williamson impact, go no further than the 2019 edition of the Men's ODI Cricket World Cup.
On his own, Kane Williamson scored no fewer than 578 runs from just 9 innings on that occasion, during which he fired 2 hundreds and as many fifties.
To that part of the cricket-frenzied audiences for whom only Virat Kohli and Steven Smith matter and are no less than the matinee idols of Hollywood's golden age, it helps to note that Kane Williamson scored runs in the 2019 World Cup at an average of 82.
He was graceful. He was calm as ever. He was impactful.
His 2019 heroics pretty much made up for a string or lousy outing with the bat in the previous ODI World Cup edition, where from 9 games, he was only able to conjure 234 runs. Not a scary proposition. Not too striking, truth be told.
But here's what matters most and might surely come into play come the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Irrespective of who New Zealand field as their playing XI in any game or against any opposition, whether or not the likes of Finn Allen, Devon Conway, or Glenn Phillips play, the ability to offer astute and critical thinking and take serious blows without losing the wits about himself as one had come to see with Williamson will be missed.
It will be missed sorely.
Just about as big a loss to the die hard fan of batting for whom technique matters just as much as big hitting but a huge loss to that team for whom Kane is the big brother.
Surely, one can't possibly undermine the importance of a Tom Latham in form with the bat as the captain; the man who has often shouldered the white ball and even Test responsibilities for his nation in the recent past.
But experience, it is often said, has no replacements or substitutes.
Which is why one ought to feel a bit anxious, especially if you are a New Zealand fan who has the knowledge that Kane Williamson was, is irreplaceable especially in this post-Guptill and post-Ross Taylor world.
Though all hopes not lost; maybe under the Latham's leadership, which arguably is his toughest white-ball assignment as on date, a new New Zealand will shine with renewed vigor.
But the big question topping most minds will be- where might the finalists of the 2019 men's world cup end up this time around?
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