Kane Williamson to undergo surgery, unlikely to play 50-over World Cup

A major setback for New Zealand as their white-ball captain Kane Williamson has suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury and is more or less ruled out of this year's 50-over World Cup.

While fielding for Gujarat Titans (GT) in their opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Williamson ruptured his ACL and will need surgery on his right knee, scans confirmed on Tuesday, according to an official release from New Zealand Cricket (NZC).

The incident occurred on March 31 in what his maiden appearance for GT. Williamson injured himself during the 13th over of Chennai Super Kings' (CSK's) innings. While attempting a catch at the deep square leg boundary, Williamson landed awkwardly - with his right knee closing under his weight. He had leapt to stop a ball headed for six off Ruturaj Gaikwad's bat.

While Williamson succeed in saving two runs, palming the ball into the field of play before it bounced onto the boundary boards, the Kiwi player soon fell on the ground grasping his right knee.

The standard rehabilitation time period means that Williamson is now unlikely to be fit and available for selection at this year's ICC ODI Cricket World Cup in India.

After receiving the news Williamson wanted to thank everyone who had supported him since sustaining the injury in India.

"I've received great support over the past few days and want to thank both the Gujarat Titans and New Zealand Cricket for that. Naturally, it's disappointing to get such an injury, but my focus now is on having the surgery and starting rehab. It's going to take some time, but I'll be doing everything I can to get back on the field as soon as possible," said Williamson.

GT, meanwhile, have signed Sri Lanka's limited-overs captain Dasun Shanaka as Williamson's replacement for the ongoing IPL 2023. Shanaka, who has never featured in the IPL before, has now been signed for his base price of INR 50 lakh, according to news reports.

While Williamson's participation in the 50-over World Cup now looked unlikely, the batsman has promised to support the team in any way he could. The 2023 Cricket World Cup is scheduled to be played in India and will reportedly begin on Oct. 5.

"I look forward to doing what I can to support Gary and the team over the next few months," added Williamson, who is likely to have surgery on his knee within the next three weeks.

Williamson's absence from the World Cup is certainly a massive blow for New Zealand, the runner's up from the 2019 edition. The BlackCaps skipper averages 47.83 across 161 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) with 13 centuries and 42 fifties and has scored 6,554 runs.

"You take Kane the player for a start, but then Kane the leader and the person he is within our group as well, it's a huge spanner in the works for us. We haven't given up hope 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 you expect…it hits you pretty hard," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said

Tom Latham has captained New Zealand in the absence of Williamson this year and will lead the ODI squad on the upcoming tour of Pakistan, and is expected to be the frontrunner for the World Cup role as well.