ICC World Cup 2023: Blow For New Zealand As Kane Williamson Ruled Out Of Tournament Opener Against England

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will miss the opening game of the 2023 World Cup against England on October 5th as he continues to recover from his knee injury suffered during the 2023 World Cup. The classy right-handed batter will also only play as a batter in New Zealand's first warm-up fixture against Pakistan on Friday in Hyderabad.

Despite continuing to recover from a knee injury suffered during the first game of IPL 2023, Williamson was picked for the ten-team tournament in India. The 33-year-old earlier claimed that he hopes to ease himself into the top level with the warm-up games against Pakistan and South Africa.

"Won’t be putting any pressure on him to return" - Gary Stead

Head coach Gary Stead revealed that Williamson has been progressing well, but doesn't want to rush his return. As quoted by New Zealand's cricket official website, he said:

"Right from the start we’ve taken a long-term view on Kane’s return to play. His recovery is tracking well and it’s now a matter of making sure he can cope with the rigours and intensity of international cricket. We’ll continue to take a day by day approach to Kane’s rehabilitation and certainly won’t be putting any pressure on him to return before he is ready."

Keeper-batter Tom Latham will lead New Zealand in the warm-up fixture against Pakistan on Friday and is likely to do so against England as well.

New Zealand's 2023 World Cup squad:

Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Will Young, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.