New Zealand batting great Kane Williamson announced his retirement from all formats of international cricket with immediate effect last week.
The 35-year-old stepped away midway through the ongoing Test series in England, ending a glittering 16-year international career.
Williamson played 110 Tests, 175 ODIs and 93 T20Is, finishing as the all-time leading run-scorer for the Black Caps with 19,346 runs, including 48 hundreds and six double-centuries. He also led the Kiwis on 206 occasions, securing the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in 2021 and reaching the 2019 World Cup Final.
Ahead of the second Test against England at The Oval, young New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra admitted that it will be tough for one player to produce the wealth of runs amassed by Williamson. Instead, he hoped the entire batting unit can help fill the massive void.
"I don't necessarily see it as pressure. Whenever a great moves on there is always a hole in the team," Ravindra told reporters on Monday.
"But the strength and quality in our depth in our team is what we pride ourselves on. We have Henry Nicholls and obviously Will Young is here as batting back-up.
"We all share responsibility within our batting unit. It's not on one guy, it's pretty hard to fill in that gap and unfortunately I don't think many people can. So it will be a collective effort."
Ravindra made it clear that New Zealand's squad had no complaints about Williamson quitting international cricket in the middle of the England Test tour.
"It's always tough when probably our greatest player calls time. We were all so supportive of his decision," the southpaw stated.
"Kane is such an amazing player but more than that he's such an amazing bloke and has contributed so much to New Zealand.
"Personally I have looked up to him for a long time now. He's one of my biggest idols. I was very lucky to share the crease with him and enjoy some cool partnerships.
"Sharing the crease, he is in a zen zone. He's such a great mentor. Kane has done things in his own way and decided the time is right. He has been so giving to the group."
New Zealand will look to bounce back in the second Test after being outclassed by 115 runs in the series opener at Lord’s, where their batters found it difficult to deal with a treacherous pitch.
"We take learnings from everything, whether it is success or failure. There were some balls keeping low and seaming around at Lord's. We do know it is a fresh start," Ravindra said. "This will be a different surface, different conditions. We haven't played a Test at the Oval for a long time."
(With AFP Inputs)
