'Great To See Kane Back' - Latham Welcomes Captain Williamson After Knee Injury
Kane Williamson during captain's conference before World Cup 2023
Stand-in New Zealand captain Tom Latham welcomed the return of regular skipper and modern-day batting giant Kane Williamson with open arms as the Kiwis gear up for a stiff campaign at the 2023 World Cup in Indian conditions.
Latham wore a smile on his face as he spoke about Williamson's timely comeback for the mega event. The BlackCaps stalwart won't be available for the tournament opener against defending champions England in Ahmedabad on October 5 but is expected to be fit for the rest of the campaign, which is in itself a miracle scenario given how worse his injury status was at one point.
Williamson ruptured the ligament in his right knee during a boundary save in the opening game of the IPL 2023 for Gujarat Titans (GT) in April and ultimately had to undergo a surgery.
Once put through the knife, the marquee cricketer wasn't expected to make it to the World Cup. But his speedier recovery and return to the nets raised New Zealand's hopes.
The veteran batter completed his rehabilitation programme at the sidelines of New Zealand's recent trips to England and Bangladesh and got some critical game time in the middle during the warm-up fixtures, which allowed the team management and physios to assess his recovery levels and game readiness.
"It's obviously great to see Kane back, to see him batting. It's like he had never left to be honest, in terms of with the bat. It's great to see him moving really well," Latham, who will be leading the side versus England, said during a pre-World Cup media interaction.
"He is playing all the shots that he used to play, which is great, and to see him back in the field is another stepping stone in terms of where he needs to get to in terms of his recovery. It's a day-by-day process with him making sure that whenever he is available he has ticked everything off all that he needs to do," he added.
Having ticked off all boxes, Williamson is considered good at this point for New Zealand's second match of the tournament on Monday (October 9) against rising associate rivals Netherlands in Hyderabad.
 "Kashish Chadha")
