New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who made a much awaited international comeback following a major knee injury in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh in Chennai on Friday, has immediately suffered another setback. Williamson’s left thumb injury has been confirmed through an X-ray following an incident where he was hit by a throw while running between the wickets during Friday’s match against Bangladesh.
Despite this setback, Williamson is determined to stay in New Zealand’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 squad and is targeting a return towards the latter stages of the pool play next month. To provide temporary cover while Williamson recovers, Wellington Firebirds batter Tom Blundell will travel to India with the team, although he won’t be officially considered part of the squad.
Coach Gary Stead expressed his optimism about Williamson’s potential return to the tournament despite the disappointment of the injury, acknowledging Kane’s immense value to the team as a world-class player and captain.
“Firstly, we’re all feeling for Kane to have this occur after all his hard work to return from his knee injury,” Stead said in a NZC statement. “While it’s disappointing news, the initial diagnosis has given us some optimism he can still feature later in the pool play following a period of rest and rehabilitation.
“Kane is clearly a massive part of our side and a world class player and captain – so we’ll look to give him every opportunity we can to return in the tournament.”
An X-ray has confirmed an undisplaced fracture to Kane Williamson's left thumb.
He will remain in the @cricketworldcup squad with the aim of being available for the back end of pool play next month.
Tom Blundell will travel to India as cover. #CWC23 https://t.co/5CjHG0FV9h
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) October 14, 2023
Unfortunately, Henry Nicholls was not considered due to a mild side-strain suffered during Canterbury’s Plunket Shield warm-up match against Otago. The next ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match for New Zealand is scheduled for Wednesday against Afghanistan in Chennai.
“Tom’s been with the one-day side on tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh and performed well,” NZ coach said. “He covers multiple positions in the batting order and his wicket-keeping skills are also an added bonus as a back-up.”
Meanwhile, New Zealand pacer Trent Boult conceded that returning skipper Williamson made the job of winning against Bangladesh easier by ‘soaking up some pressure’. “He’s very comfortable out there in the middle, and yeah, quality knock after six or so months off. Great to have him back, and obviously a key player for us,” said Boult, during the post-match press conference.
“The guy’s very comfortable at the crease, very familiar with how he wants to play his cricket. And, yeah, touched on soaking up some pressure at the start to begin with. But yeah, he plays good cricket shots, puts pressure on the bowler and generally that’s a pretty good recipe.”
