Ahmedabad, India, March 31, 2023 After years of representing (and captaining) the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), Kane Williamson has joined the Gujarat Titans (GT) camp, trying to rebuild his IPL image following a disappointing 2022 season. There was no bidding battle for Kane Williamson at the auction a few months ago, but the Titans’ acquisition of him felt like a wise choice. After all, he was Kane Williamson.
His chance to bat is still to come since the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are using the pitch first. They’ve gotten off to a quick start, with Ruturaj Gaikwad blazing on all cylinders.
During the 13th set, Josh Little bowls and Gaikwad sends a not-so-long throw towards the deep mid-wicket. It initially seems that Kane Williamson will manage to intercept from the boundary. Yet in truth, the likelihood of him halting it is low. Despite this, he bravely risks his body and dives to the right. When he lands though, his full weight presses on his right knee. This twist results in significant discomfort for him.
There is silence on the ground and among hundreds in New Zealand. Their captain had suffered a knee injury months before the World Cup, and a World Cup charge appeared unlikely without their talisman. All they can do now is hope and hold their breath…
Fast forward to October.
Kane Williamson has not played a competitive match since that game in Ahmedabad, but there are rumblings that he is close. He bats in both of the Blackcaps’ warm-up games, bats well, and then retires out, which was most likely pre-planned.
The moment finally came a few days later. In opposition to Bangladesh. In the city of Chennai. On a track that has not been conducive to batting. And New Zealand is aiming to build on an already excellent start.
The Kiwis lose Rachin Ravindra early, and with Bangladesh defending 246, they believe they have a chance, not just because of the circumstances, but also because Williamson, who has spent so much time on the sidelines, is certain to be somewhat undercooked, despite batting in the warm-ups.
But here’s the issue with Kane Williamson. What others find difficult comes almost intuitively to him. Many others may have been concerned about how they would play in their first game back. It should be observed that the New Zealand skipper is rather scratchy, but he does what all great hitters do: he guts it out and finds a way to score runs.
He has 77 runs by the start of the 38th over. He next tries a fast single to mid-off and…..failure. That is not his knee. The fielder’s throw was so far off aim that it smacked into the Kiwi captain’s left thumb, the only area on the gloves where a right-handed hitter has no protection.
He attempts to bat on but decides he can’t after one more delivery. He walks back, not exactly defeated, but dissatisfied and scared of what is to come, and as fate would have it, he is diagnosed with a thumb fracture.
All that hard practice, all those sweaty hours, all that smooth stroke play, and now more time on the sidelines.
Until…November 4th, in Bengaluru, with New Zealand’s World Cup campaign on the line. Kane Williamson returns (of course he does) and delivers an innings that makes you question whether he has missed any cricket at all, much alone months.
It’s not like he’s batting against a weak bowling attack. Nonetheless, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, and Shaheen Shah Afridi are viewed as ordinary opponents.
Kane Williamson’s elegant batting masterclass against Pakistan
They are caressed through the off-side or lashed through mid-wicket when they bowl full. When they become shorter, he unleashes his iconic back-foot off-side punch, and when it’s on the pads, he swivel-pulls them like only he can.
When Pakistan switched to spin, Williamson glided down the track, lofting it over extra cover and mid-wicket depending on the field.
This demonstrates that his intellect was working, and it was working in the proper way. He wasn’t worried about how much cricket he had missed or whether he would ever recover his touch. He just observed the ball, chose his option, and executed it with the surgical accuracy for which he is known.
Kane Williamson didn’t quite reach his hundred, but it was more due to his desire to maintain boosting his scoring rate rather than simply inch his way to three figures. Most people would describe this as the quintessential Williamson thing to do.
And there, in a nutshell, is why Kane Williamson is so important to New Zealand and this World Cup. There aren’t many players who bat as smoothly as the Kiwi captain, and only a few of them show up when it truly counts.
The event was significant in and of itself, but the fact that Kane Williamson was returning from injury, not only for the first time at this World Cup, added to the significance.
He displayed class, and New Zealand will be a much better team for the rest of the World Cup. Of course, this does not guarantee that he will score heavily from here until the conclusion of the tournament, but it does provide the Kiwis with the middle-order solidity they require, as well as the cushion that should, in theory, unleash those surrounding the skipper.
Simply put, it allows New Zealand to exhale a sigh of relief. That was arguably long overdue after months of collectively holding their breath.
