Rawalpindi: New Zealand Gary Stead has said that white-ball captain Kane Williamson who is unlikely to play at the ODI World Cup later this year could travel to India with the team as the mentor.
Stead has said that in case Williamson doesn’t get available to play, the team would “absolutely” want to use the star batter as the team mentor during the ICC mega event.
Williamson, one of the best batters in the world, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during his Gujarat Titans debut in an IPL 2023 match on 31 March. He recently underwent successful surgery and is currently in rehab.
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“It’s still far too early to know. He’s had the operation and, to date, what we know, that’s been successful. So he is in the very, very early stages of his rehab programme,” Stead said before the start of New Zealand’s five-match ODI series against Pakistan.
“It’s obviously pretty non-weight-bearing at this stage, and he’s in a brace. It’s really just meeting milestones as we go.”
The recovery from an ACL rupture takes around nine months and the injury has effectively ruled Williamson out of the ODI World Cup scheduled to take place in India in October-November.
Stead said he is still hopeful Williamson will be able to play in the World Cup.
“Our line around Kane, at the moment, is still 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 he brings to this team, too early in case there is that chance still.”
New Zealand were the runners-up in the 2019 World Cup, having lost the final to England on the boundary count rule. They were also the losing finalists in 2015.
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