The New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson is not certain about his T20 career after the side’s disappointing World Cup exit. He is unsure about returning for the next edition of the T20 World Cup which is set to be played in India and Sri Lanka.
Kane Williamson on his T20 Career After World Cup Exit
New Zealand has been knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2024 after their defeat in the matches against Afghanistan and West Indies. They completed in the third position in the Group C points table.
The 33-year-old right-handed batter has been an integral part of New Zealand’s team in white ball format for over a decade. His contribution has helped the side to reach the semi-finals in seven out of ten World Cups in T20 and ODI formats since 2011.
They have played three finals and have been named as the Player of the tournament in 2019. With his fellow team-mate Trent Boult confirming his end of the T20 World Cup career, Williamson recognized the transition period in the team.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said about being involved in T20 World Cup in 2026. “There’s a bit of time between now and then, so it’s about regrouping as a side. We’ve got red-ball cricket over the next year basically, so it’s back into some other international formats, and we’ll see where things land.”
Under Williamson’s captaincy, New Zealand secured a victory in the World Test Championship final against India in 2021 at Southampton. These two teams are set to clash once again in India later this year. ‘
New Zealand is slated for a three-match home series against England in December and a four-match tour of Australia in 2026-27. Recently, he has played his 100th test and could possibly become the first New Zealand batter to reach 10,000 Test runs. Currently, he has amassed 8743 runs with an average of 54.98.
The former New Zealand Captain Stephen Fleming said that Kane will be given the necessary time he needs to figure out his next move as he is in the final years of his illustrious career.
“It hasn’t really been questioned over here, due to his genius with the bat, but he has to make a decision now after a disappointing World Cup,” Fleming said. “What does his future hold? Is it all three formats, is it franchise cricket, is it family time? He will be getting to that point where he starts making decisions that have other influences, whereas before it was cricket and cricket only.
“He will be afforded the luxury of time because he’s a generational player and he’ll be hurting a lot. The older New Zealand players would have looked at this as maybe their last good opportunity, so it might be that it’s time to move on, or he’ll steel himself to right the wrongs for the next one. But he’s not a guy that gives away a lot, so it’d be interesting to see what he does.”
Kane Williamson admitted that the World Cup conditions in the Caribbean haven’t favored the New Zealand team as it was a challenge and they struggled to adapt to the conditions in the matches against Afghanistan and West Indies.
“It took a long time to start and then, in a matter of days, we were not in contention, which was frustrating,” Williamson said. “We played against a couple of very strong sides who are very well equipped in these conditions and unfortunately that was the difference in our first two games.
“All in all it’s frustrating, but there’ll be learnings for the players that come back to this part of the world. These conditions have been somewhat challenging, so they are some good experiences to have going forward,” he concluded.
