Auckland [New Zealand], March 9 (ANI): New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Tuesday confirmed that skipper Kane Williamson has been ruled out from the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh due to a left elbow injury.
Williamson has a small tear in his left-elbow tendon and he had been experiencing irritation in the back-half of the summer.
NZC Medical Manager Dayle Shackel said it was clear the injury now needed targeted intervention.
“Kane’s been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn’t improved. 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,” Shackel said in an official NZC release.
BlackCaps coach Gary Stead said it was a blow to lose his captain for the three-game ODI series against Bangladesh, 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,” said Stead.
“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,” he added.
The Kiwis ODI squad will be released first thing on Thursday morning. The first ODI against Bangladesh is on Saturday, March 20 at the University of Otago Oval in Dunedin. (ANI)