Kane Williamson is almost certainly out of this year’s ODI World Cup after it was confirmed this morning that he has ruptured the ACL in his right knee.
The Black Caps’ white ball captain injured his knee when attempting to take a catch in his first match for the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League just under a week ago.
He flew home to New Zealand and scans have confirmed the diagnosis. He faces at least six months out of the game. The World Cup in India starts in October.
It's a major blow for New Zealand, beaten finalists in the last two 50-over World Cups.
“This means I guess it’s unlikely that he’ll be available for the World Cup, but from our perspective, we certainly haven’t given up hope on that,” coach Gary Stead said.
Williamson will have surgery on the knee in two-to-three weeks’ time after swelling subsides. After the operation he faces a long period of rehabilitation.
“You take Kane the player, for a start, then Kane the leader and the person he is within our group as well, it’s a huge spanner in the works for us," Stead conceded.
"We haven’t given up hope though that he might be right, but at this stage it does look unlikely.
“Our first thoughts are with Kane at the moment, it’s a tough time for him, it’s not an injury that you expect is going to happen, it comes out of the blue and it obviously hits you pretty hard at the time.”
Williamson had got back to his best this summer, mainly in the Test arena, scoring double centuries against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to go with two other centuries.
Williamson has played 161 ODIs for New Zealand, scoring 13 centuries at an average of 47.8.
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