ICC World Cup 2023: Tom Blundell Called Up As Cover After NZ Captain Kane Williamson Fractures Thumb vs Bangladesh

That's tough news for New Zealand as their skipper Kane Williamson who was hit on the thumb in his match against Bangladesh and will be out of action in the on going ICC World Cup.

Williamson's tryst with injuries sees no end, it seems. Nine months after his return to professional cricket, Williamson has found himself on the wrong end of the injury spectrum yet again, and on Saturday, it was confirmed that Williamson suffered a fracture to his left thumb.

Kane still looking to contribute

Despite the setback, Williamson remains determined to contribute to his team's campaign in the World Cup and has chosen to stay with the squad.

His aim is to recover and make himself available for the latter stages of the pool play next month. To cover for Williamson's potential absence, Tom Blundell has been named as his replacement and will travel to India with the squad.

“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,” the official X account of New Zealand confirmed.

It was in the 39th over of New Zealand’s innings, the 33-year-old Williamson, played a shot to mid-off and attempted to take a single. However, the fielder at mid-off attempted to throw the ball at the stumps, and it hit Williamson’s thumb, causing him pain. He left the field and retired hurt, not returning to bat for the rest of the match. After the blow to his thumb, the cricketer from Tauranga received medical attention but chose to leave the field. At that point, he was batting well on 78 runs and had hoped to see his team through in the chase of a relatively modest target of 246.