Renowned New Zealand cricketer Kane Williamson is set to miss the upcoming ODI World Cup in India due to a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, which requires surgical intervention to repair. Recent scans confirmed the injury, and Williamson is expected to undergo a procedure, making it unlikely that he will feature in the upcoming 50-over tournament.
Notably, the nasty injury occurred during the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Ahmedabad. While fielding, Williamson twisted his knee awkwardly, which ruled him out from the 16th season of the cash-rich league.
“I’ve received great support over the past few days and want to thank both the Gujarat Titans and New Zealand Cricket for that. Naturally it’s disappointing to get such an injury, but my focus now is on having the surgery and starting rehab. It’s going to take some time, but I’ll be doing everything I can to get back on the field as soon as possible. I look forward to doing what I can to support Gary and the team over the next few months,” said Williamson in a New Zealand Cricket statement.
For the unversed, the recovery and rehabilitation period for an anterior cruciate ligament rupture can be extensive and challenging, involving physical therapy and rest. It has a time frame of about six months, which is how far away the World Cup in India is right now.
However, Black Caps head coach Gary Stead hasn’t completely given up on Williamson’s participation in India for the marquee event.
“From our perspective, we certainly haven’t given up hope on that, and Kane will meet a number of milestones in the next six months or so. You take Kane the player, for a first start, but then Kane the leader and the person he is within our group as well, it’s a huge spanner in the works for us. Our first thoughts, obviously, are with Kane at the moment, it’s a tough time for him, it’s not an injury that you expect is going to happen, it comes out of the blue and it obviously hits you pretty hard at the time,” said Stead.
There is no doubt that Williamson’s absence will going to hurt New Zealand as he is a key player and one of the finest leaders in the cricketing world. In the last ODI World Cup, the Black Caps reached the final, with Williamson finishing as the Player of the Tournament, as he amassed 578 runs from nine innings at an excellent average of 82.57 with two hundreds and as many half-centuries.
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