Amidst Injury, Will Kane Williamson Become NZ's Mentor? Coach Gary Stead Answers
Williamson suffered from an ACL injury [Twitter]
A modern-day great, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will be up against time to get fit for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 in India. Williamson underwent knee surgery after injuring himself while fielding for Gujarat Titans' (GT) opening Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 encounter against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which commissioned him out of action.
While Williamson's participation in the WC as a player remains unsure, head coach Gary Stead is keen to make use of the former's acumen and knowledge and could rope in the batter within the support staff.
As quoted by Indian Express, speaking to the press, Stead confirmed that Williamson has begun rehabilitation after successful surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee earlier this week.
Here's what Stead said
“It’s still far too early to know. To date what we know, that’s been successful. He’s in the very early early stages of his rehab programme. It’s obviously pretty weight-bearing at this stage and he’s in a brace.
It’s really just meeting milestones as we go. It’s unlikely that he will be available, but we certainly don’t want to rule out a person of his class and calibre and the things that he brings to this team too early in case there is that chance,”
Williamson's potential replacement could be Mark Chapman, who had an amazing T20I series against Pakistan last week and was drafted late into the ODI squad, earning praise from Stead as well.
“It’s not just about one knock of Mark Chapman, why he was added to the ODI squad, but there is a lot of competition for places. It’s not so much about the competition, but it’s how we keep building towards the World Cup and Mark Chapman is still one guy that is in our thoughts around that,”
New Zealand will play a five-match ODI series against Pakistan, that begins tomorrow at Rawalpindi.
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