Kane Williamson has revealed he is still battling an elbow injury going into the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup but is confident it will not sideline him.
Williamson has been nagged by elbow complaints since early 2021, missing New Zealand’s ODI series against Bangladesh in March, the first half of the Indian Premier League and a June Test against England as a result.
He also missed Sunrisers Hyderabad’s final match of the IPL season due to a hamstring injury but in positive news for the Black Caps, he said that was no longer an issue.
“The hamstring is minor, it’s progressing nicely, so not too many concerns and we’ve still got plenty of time,” Williamson said on Thursday. “So, yeah, hopefully in the next sort of few days or so, I’m taking basically full part in the training. So, it’s all good.
“The elbow – it has just been a bit of a slow-burner. Yeah, it has been quite frustrating for a long period of time. However, it has definitely improved a bit over the last two months I’ve had after the World Test Championship.
“On rehab, it has definitely seemed to move forward, which is refreshing, but still a little bit of time to get back to a 100 [%], but it’s definitely better.”
Williamson said while there will be some load management at training through the campaign to help him deal with the elbow niggle, he does not expect it to sideline him.
The New Zealand captain said the injury has improved noticeably over the past few months but remained a frustrating ailment.
“Basically just gripping and then extending,” Williamson said. “So, which you do a lot of obviously batting and it has been frustrating certainly when it was at its worst. But the harder you grip and further you extend, the more it seems to be quite disruptive.
“Like I said there’s been a lot of improvement over the last three months, which is good. That has really been the focus and I’m at the stage where I’m largely about to get through with some comfort and it’s nice to be able to focus a bit more on the cricketing side of things rather than having constant negotiations with physios.”
The Black Caps are chasing their first T20 World Cup trophy and know it won’t be easy to attain it. With that in mind, they’ll be focusing on the key tenet that has always driven the side.
“Any World Cup is always tough, particularly the T20 World Cup. There are match-winners in every team and anybody can truly beat anybody and for us, we want to continue the path of growth and improve as a side and make those adjustments.
“There are very little promises in this game, but we want to continue to get better as a side and hope that holds us in good stead. That’ll be our focus and that will be important for us in this tournament.”
New Zealand play their first warm-up match on 18 October before starting their campaign on 26 October.
(Source and courtesy: https://www.t20worldcup.com/)