Kane Williamson ruled out of Bangladesh ODI series after elbow injury

Kane Williamson, the New Zealand skipper, has been ruled out of the ODI series against Bangladesh, starting Saturday, March 20 due to an elbow injury. It was confirmed by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Monday, March 08. Williamson recently captained the Kiwis to a 3-2 series victory in the T20Is against Australia, though he couldn’t perform to expectations with the bat in hand.

In five games against the Aussies, Kane only managed 82 runs. The veteran has suffered a minor tear in his left elbow tendon and has been ‘experiencing irritation’ in the latter half of the summer. Dayle Shackel, the NZC medical manager, put forth the development regarding Kane. He stated that the Tauranga-born would be going into rehabilitation to become fit at the earliest.

Kane Williamson to undergo rehabilitation

“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 was quoted as saying.

“Time-frames can vary but we’re hopeful that, after an initial rest, he should be able to begin rehabilitation next week,” he stated.

Gary Stead, the head coach of the Black Caps, stated he wants Kane to attain fitness for the upcoming assignments, which include the World Test Championship final against India in the month of June.

“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. We’ve got a huge year of cricket ahead with an England Test tour and ICC World Test Championship Final, and we want to make sure we have Kane fit and firing for that,” Stead told.

Apart from the three ODIs in Dunedin Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand are also set to play three T20Is against Bangladesh. The Kiwis’ cricketers would also take part in the entirety of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL), scheduled to get underway on April 9.