New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is likely to be out of action for eight to nine weeks due to his persistent elbow tendon injury.
Williamson was ruled out of the second and final Test against India in Mumbai on the morning of the opening day and eventually, New Zealand suffered a 372-run defeat against India and also lost the series 0-1.
On Tuesday, December 7, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead revealed that Williamson will be out of action for eight or nine weeks, which means he will miss the upcoming home series against Bangladesh and also probably the white-ball tour of Australia at the end of January.
As reported by stuff.co.nz, Stead stated: “Kane's going along ok. Last time, if you look after the World Test Championship and then coming back before the IPL and the Twenty20 World Cup, it was about eight or nine weeks, so I expect somewhere in that timeframe again.”
Read Also: NZ v BAN 2022: Shakib Al Hasan gets permission from BCB to skip New Zealand tour
He added, “We’re trying not to put timeframes on it at this stage, I think we’ve looked to do that in the past and games have probably come a little bit quicker than what we’ve wanted.”
The head coach also insisted that it is unlikely that Williamson might go for surgery.
He explained, “I think surgery is unlikely. All that surgery would do is ensure that rehab is done. If we don't have to cut a tendon, our choice is not to do that. Kane's doing it tough, don't get me wrong. He loves playing for New Zealand – he hates the thought of missing any cricket, let alone test cricket for New Zealand.”
Meanwhile, Stead said that the management of Williamson in the T20 cricket is much easier, but when it comes to Test cricket, it becomes troublesome.
He noted, “The management of Kane through the T20 games was much easier because it’s about the load on the elbow, so as soon as you enter the test arena and you’re looking at longer periods of time training and then batting as well, that load is what tipped him over the edge. In the shorter forms of the game, it’s more manageable; in test cricket, it’s tougher.”
Even Williamson had to often reduce the training workload and play the games with minimal training due to the elbow problems.
Stead said on the same, “That’s been a change of mindset to get his head around, but he’s adapted really well to that, There have been some time during tournaments where we’ve had to talk about it, get him to pull back a little bit from what he naturally wants to do. He’s a prodigious trainer, he loves hitting balls, he loves being and feeling fully prepared for the matches.”
The coach also said that Williamson hates missing cricket whether it is Test cricket or any other format. He signed off by saying, “Kane’s doing it tough – he loves playing for New Zealand, he hates the thought of missing any cricket, let alone test cricket.”
(With ANI Inputs)
