New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is set to miss the upcoming 3-match ODI series against Bangladesh due to a left elbow injury.
Kane Williamson skips Bangladesh ODI Series
The 30-year-old, who is a regular for his team in all the 3 formats of the game, has a small tear in his left elbow tendon. New Zealand Cricket medical manager Dayle Shackel has said that Kane Williamson’s injury needs a period of rest and rehabilitation for improvement.
“Kane’s been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn’t improved,” Shackel 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.
“Time-frames can vary, but we’re hopeful that, after an initial rest, he should be able to begin rehabilitation next week,” Shackel said. The team’s head coach Gary Stead said it was a blow to lose the “class” and “leadership” of Kane Williamson but knew it was the right call.
“Kane loves playing for his country – so it hasn’t been an easy decision to step back.
“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.
“We will certainly miss his class and leadership in the upcoming Bangladesh series, but his omission will no doubt present an opportunity for someone else when the ODI squad is named,” Stead said.
Williamson was part of all 5 matches of the recently-concluded T20I series against Australia. Williamson registered scores of 12, 53, 9, 8, and 0 as New Zealand won the series 3-2.
The ODI series against Bangladesh will kickstart in Dunedin from March 20. The two teams will also play a 3-match T20I series starting March 28.
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