New Zealand captain Kane Williamson confirmed his participation in the Black Caps’ third outing at the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 against Bangladesh in Chennai on Friday, after sitting out the first two matches against England and the Netherlands.
Speaking to the media, Williamson said he was excited to begin the World Cup 2023 campaign after his long injury recovery, which he said was “quite a journey, but largely a good one”.
The 33-year-old elaborated on the long and arduous rehabilitation from his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) surgery in April, which had put his World Cup participation in doubt.
“The recovery and rehab journey was a series of really small steps and it started with strength and range in terms of the knee and try to improve that and control the pain around it as the load increases,” Williamson said, “We could be here all day talking about it.”
“Initially, it was not really considered (World Cup participation) and, to be honest, it was probably a good thing to get my head stuck into rehab and not really rush it. That was really my focus,” Williamson added.
This is not the first time Williamson has had to ease into a tournament nursing an injury. He was forced to manage a nagging elbow injury through the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE.
The return of its skipper will be a huge boost to New Zealand, which has started the tournament in impressive fashion with two wins in two. After near-misses in the previous two editions of the tournament, the Black Caps will be looking to go one better this time.
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Williamson though, played down the talk surrounding the team’s previous successes.
“We’ve had some really enjoyable times recently and got pretty close, but you still have to start again. And there’s been some good performances so far. But it’s important to play what’s in front of us and keep focusing on what gives us the best chance.”
The skipper also spoke of the challenge of adjusting to the pitch in Chepauk after different conditions at the previous two matches in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
“I think not just here in India but in any country where you play, certainly world events, where there are multiple games on surfaces in quick succession, you see a variety of surfaces where you have to try and adapt to as quickly as possible,” he said.
The Bangladesh spin-trio of Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahedi Hasan have been among the wickets this tournament and is set to play a significant part in the game tomorrow along with the tournament’s highest wicket-taker so far, Mitchell Santner.
Williamson echoed the over-riding sentiment on the importance of spinners at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium.
“We have seen here that there’s been that spin and the pitch has varied perhaps as the game has moved on as well throughout the day - but definitely, I think both teams have some good spin bowlers that no doubt will play a big part tomorrow,” the skipper said.
Williamson dismissed suggestions that Rachin Ravindra could make way for his return despite his strong start to the tournament but added that team selection will be based on the conditions at hand.
“Rachin has been a huge part of our side and had some really significant contributions in the first two and will absolutely be involved,” he said.
New Zealand might look to bring in Ish Sodhi to add to its spin arsenal of Santner and Ravindra, with the captain adding that pace stalwart Tim Southee will continue to miss out despite making steady progress in his recovery from a right thumb fracture.
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