IPL 2020: Kane Williamson relishing the passion around the tournament

Auckland, June 30: Kane Williamson has left a mark as captain for both New Zealand and IPL team Sunriseres Hyderabad. Williamson said IPL and New Zealand offer different experience but the passion that accompanies the T20 tournament is quite amazing.

The IPL 2020 has been postponed indefinitely because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the BCCI is looking actively to find a window for the tournament.

"The initial interest was obviously watching the IPL and seeing how big it was, it is the biggest domestic competition, T20 cricket being relatively new, what I saw was an opportunity to gain experience and learn," Williamson told Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube show titled 'DRS with Ash'.

"For us, to see the passion for cricket in India is an amazing thing, it is a brilliant competition and there is a high standard, a lot of other countries have followed suit to start their leagues," he added.

Williamson had led Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2018 and 2019 after David Warner was banned for his role in the Cape Town spot-fixing scandal. And the Kiwi said leading an IPL team like Hyderabad was different to leading his country New Zealand. Warner was reinstated as skipper of Hyderabad for the IPL 2020 edition.

"It is quite different to lead New Zealand and an IPL franchise, initially I did not know what to expect, but like I mentioned it is an Indian competition so you are coming into quite a different culture, I was trying to keep an open mind, there is a lot of experience in all of the groups, it was an enjoyable season to lead the Sunrisers Hyderabad," Williamson said.

"The support staff have been there at Hyderabad for a long time and they have enjoyed success, it was about maintaining the style of play that we are known for," he added.

Williamson has played 41 IPL matches so far, and scored 1,302 runs at 38.29.