World Cup 2023: Kane Williamson to miss New Zealand's first match vs England on October 5, stand-in captain named

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World Cup 2023: Kane Williamson is set to miss the World Cup 2023-opener between New Zealand and England as he continues to recover from his knee injury which he suffered in the IPL 2023-opener between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 31.

The New Zealand captain will only come out to bat in the first warm-up match against Pakistan in Hyderabad on Friday, September 9. He will be playing a full game in the second and last warm-up game against South Africa on Monday in Trivandrum.

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said that Williamson would not be rushed into a comeback.

“Right from the start we’ve taken a long-term view on Kane’s return to play,” said Stead.

“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.”

Tom Latham will captain the side in the first warm-up match against Pakistan in Hyderabad.

New Zealand will play their second game against Netherland on October 9 and third match against Bangladesh on October 13. Williamson is very likely to make his comeback in either of these two matches.

New Zealand Squad for World Cup 2023: Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young