AUCKLAND: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the ODI series against Bangladesh due to an elbow injury.
The small tear in his left elbow tendon has been troubling Williamson in the second half of the season. He also sat out New Zealand’s domestic T20 Super Smash earlier this year due to a niggle in his elbow but returned to action in time for the recent 3-2 series win over Australia.
“Kane’s been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn’t improved,” NZC Medical Manager Dayle Shackel said on Tuesday.
Dayle Shackel further said, “He obviously has a high volume of training and playing across the three formats, which has inhibited his ability to recover. We believe he now needs a period of rest and rehabilitation to get the injury right.”
New Zealand coach Gary Stead said that while Williamson’s presence will be missed, this was ultimately the right course of action. “Kane loves playing for his country – so it hasn’t been an easy decision to step back,” Stead said.
“A batsman’s front elbow is crucial to his game and with the injury not improving it was clear something needed to be done. We’ve got a huge year of cricket ahead with an England Test tour and ICC World Test Championship Final first up in May and June, and we want to make sure we have Kane fit and firing for that,” he added.
Tom Latham will likely take over the captaincy from Williamson in a format New Zealand have only played four times since the 2019 World Cup final. The Black Caps squad will be announced on Thursday, nine days out from the first ODI on 20 March.
