Kane Williamson’s position in the Fab 4

[daytrader]

Will Kane Williamson Get Picked In IPL Auction? What Hardik Pandya Said
India and New Zealand are slated to play three T20Is and three ODIs, beginning Friday, and ahead of the series, India captain Hardik Pandya was asked whether Williamson will be picked in the auction or not.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was released by SunRisers Hyderabad ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction on December 23 in Kochi. All ten franchises were given November 15 as the deadline to submit their final list of released and retained players, and the Hyderabad-based franchise decided to let go of Williamson. India and New Zealand are slated to play three T20Is and three ODIs, beginning Friday, and ahead of the series, India captain Hardik Pandya was asked whether Williamson will be picked in the auction or not.

To this question, Hardik said: "For him, because he is a friend, yes. Rest it is okay. IPL is IPL, right now I am playing for India.

Further quizzed about whether Hardik's franchise Gujarat Titans will go after Kane Williamson in the auction, Hardik said: "Don't know, too far ahead to think about it now."

India and New Zealand will be playing a white-ball series, just five days after the T20 World Cup came to an end. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul have been rested for the tour. Hardik Pandya will be leading in T20Is while Shikhar would don the captaincy hat in ODIs.

In the World Cup, India lost the semi-final against England and there was heavy criticism as the side once again failed to go all the way in an ICC event.

"I mean, yes, we all know there is a disappointment of the World Cup but we are professionals, we need to cope up with it. How we cope up with our successes as well, we need to cope up with our failures as well. We need to go forward and look forward and kind of rectify the mistakes we made and make sure we do not repeat that," said Hardik.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has been very outspoken in his criticism of Team India, saying the Men in Blue have been underachievers in white-ball cricket, and he even asked what the side have done after the 2011 World Cup triumph.

When asked about Vaughan's criticism, in particular, Hardik said: "When you do not do well, people will have opinions which we respect. I understand people are coming with different points of view. But being at the international level, I do not think we need to prove anything to anyone. It is a sport, you keep trying and you keep getting better. When the result is supposed to happen, it will happen. But yes, definitely things we need to work on, which we are aware of and we will rectify it."

When asked about the roadmap for the 2024 T20 World Cup, Hardik said: "Next T20 World Cup will be almost two years, if I am not wrong. Till then, we have time, and a lot of people will get chances as a lot of cricket will be played. The roadmap starts now, but it is too far ahead right now. We have time, we will start having conversations on those grounds, right now, it is about making sure that we let the boys enjoy themselves while playing here. Let them enjoy right now, we will talk about the future later on."

Further talking about the upcoming New Zealand series, Hardik Pandya said: "Absolutely. As you said, a lot of the main guys are not here but at the same time, the players who are here have also been playing for India for a good amount of 1-1.5 years, even they have had ample chances, and enough time in international cricket to express themselves and showcase what they have. Very excited for them, new bunch and new energy."

NDTV

 

[MenInG]

Kane Williamson has always been hailed as an excellent all-format player but his credentials as a T20 player has come under scrutiny of late, especially after his underwhelming performance in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

The New Zealand skipper did play a good knock of 61 during the mega event but amassed only 178 runs overall at a strike rate of 116.33. He plays the role of a top-order anchor in his side, though questions have been raised about his strike rate.

At 32, workload management is also something Williamson will have to manage, with him captaining New Zealand in all three formats.

New Zealand skipper was player of the match with a superb 61 to set up the victory over Ireland at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022.
Trent Boult, Williamson's teammate, recently declined NZC's central contract so that he could be selective about the formats he wants to play for his country. Williamson also has the option to go down that path but he sees the challenge of playing in all three formats as an enjoyable one.

"Yeah, I love all the formats, for different reasons, and in fact playing the three and changing between them is a challenge that is enjoyable," he was quoted as saying by a media outlest in an interview.

"But having said that, there is a balance to strike in terms of just general volume [of cricket], and that's important.

"Everybody is a little bit challenged by that, certainly some of the players that may have done it for a long time, and you're always looking to be clear with that direction - to stay fresh and focused on what is most important with your involvement in any team. Yeah, always looking to monitor that space as well as you can."

Boult hasn't been named in New Zealand's squads after the T20 World Cup and his bowling partner Tim Southee, who is already 33 years old, doesn't have that many years left in international cricket either. Williamson has been playing along with them since a long time. The trio have reached the finals of many ICC events, winning the World Test Championship in 2021.

But they are already in their 30s and New Zealand will have to go through a transition soon. However, Williamson isn't looking too far ahead and wants to deliver his best in whatever he is doing at present.

"You sort of hope that whilst you're here, and trying to do as well as you can as a team, and with all the other individuals involved, that there's a real effort to try and grow the game, to try and play your role to the best of your ability, to try and improve as much as you can as a player, and hopefully that sort of adds to the depth of cricket that we have," Williamson said.

"But just focusing on what's in front of you is what's really important, and in years to come there'll be transition, or there's perhaps transition a little bit even earlier - that's always there, that's always happening in professional sport, and whoever the next group or crop are, they'll I'm sure have a lot of motivation to want to get better as a team and go even further as a side as well."

Williamson will be seen in action once again during the T20I and ODI series against India, starting with the first T20I in Wellington on November 18.

ICC

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Worse than Smith, Root and Kohli in all 3 formats I reckon. Although he was never this bad before injury.

Should consider retiring from at least one format. Clearly is way past it, basically struggling to score runs every other game.

 

[Ab Fan]

Worse than Smith, Root and Kohli in all 3 formats I reckon. Although he was never this bad before injury.

Should consider retiring from at least one format. Clearly is way past it, basically struggling to score runs every other game.

Root can play faster than him but he doesn't play T20 for England. Kane also must retire from T20. Had he not invested himself in T20 and IPL, he would probably have done better in Test cricket away from home.

 

[Aman]

Any IPL team who selects him would be stupid.

 

[Saj]

Kane has a strike rate of 117 in T20Is in 2022.

 

[Rana]

Any IPL team who selects him would be stupid.

They have 10 teams now and only 5-6 good cricket playing nations to pick their overseas players from

The expansion of IPL will only lessen the quality of teams

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Root can play faster than him but he doesn't play T20 for England. Kane also must retire from T20. Had he not invested himself in T20 and IPL, he would probably have done better in Test cricket away from home.

Root is not a bad player, it's just that there is no room for his playstyle in England team. I wish NZ could afford to drop Kane. Maybe they should.

And yeah, it was a big mistake for Williamson to keep playing T20s. He was never great in the format anyway, and now I just feel sorry for him.

 

[Ab Fan]

Root is not a bad player, it's just that there is no room for his playstyle in England team. I wish NZ could afford to drop Kane. Maybe they should.

And yeah, it was a big mistake for Williamson to keep playing T20s. He was never great in the format anyway, and now I just feel sorry for him.

Yes, he has chink in the armour in all formats. Had he kept himself away from T20s these last 3 years, I am sure he would have found a way to succeed in Tests away from home. Now he is just struggling with injuries and if we talk about his best performances, it probably comes down to a Test series performance in Australia on absolute roads in 2015-16 and a WTC Final fifty.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Any IPL team who selects him would be stupid.

He was preferred over Warner by SRh due to his captaincy. But his captaincy was atrocious last season. Hence they let him go.

 

[MenInG]

A 34th Test 50 for Kane Williamson - Don't think he will miss out on a hundred here.

 

[MenInG]

A 34th Test 50 for Kane Williamson - Don't think he will miss out on a hundred here.

As expected

100 for Kane Williamson! His 25th in Test cricket. 206 balls, 322 minutes, 11 fours.

 

[Bahnz]

Will be very interesting to see how KW goes over the next couple of years. He was being asked to do too much imo: be NZ’s best bat in all 3 formats, and be their captain, and captain SRH all while dealing with a serious elbow injury. Hopefully giving up the test captaincy and being booted from SRH will give him the breathing space to just be the best batsman he can be. Would like to see him retire from t20 internationals as well, but given how little ODI cricket is played these days he might feel that without it he couldn’t get enough game time.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kane Williamson's last 6 scores in Test cricket against Pakistan:<br><br>105*<br>238<br>21<br>129<br>139<br>89<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvNZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvNZ</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1608079519096635393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[SpiritOf1903]

ATG Captain and batsman

 

[MenInG]

 

[Cover Drive Six]

I think this pic showing wrong stats.
Kane took 722 days to score 25th Test ton.

From dec 2019 till today Kane made only 1 century

Test 100s among Fab 4

Dec 2019 || Dec 2022
Kohli 27 || 27
Smith 26 || 29
Kane 23 || 25
Root 17 || 28

 

[jnaveen1980]

Kohli is just ruining his legacy. Let us see how low he can go. He had so many opportunities for easy runs. He just did not find any flow to his game.

 

[MenInG]

KW outstanding.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Out of 2259 runs

1434 runs in NZ in 13 Tests
523 runs in Pakistan+UAE in 4 tests

in Australia 14.25
In England 30.14
In India 21.00
Ind Srilanka 8.00

In UAE 77.20
In Pakistan so far yet to be dismissed

 

[Ab Fan]

Good knock but my expectation would be to score your runs faster when the pitch is flat and try and win the game rather than just scoring a 200 with the match heading towards the draw.

 

[shaz619]

Good knock but my expectation would be to score your runs faster when the pitch is flat and try and win the game rather than just scoring a 200 with the match heading towards the draw.

Other then that, declaration is a biggy and its timing. This was a good one but not as aggressive like we saw from Stokes in the last series

 

[Ab Fan]

Other then that, declaration is a biggy and its timing. This was a good one but not as aggressive like we saw from Stokes in the last series

Kane and co have played safe cricket. Stokes or Kohli in these situations would have gone for win.

However, knowing Kohli, there is a 25% chance that in process of going for win, he would have costed us the match itself. I think WTC Final is one of the examples of that. We should have batted better on final day rather than getting bowled out in two sessions.

 

[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

 

[ex-q-zit]

 

[Mamoon]

Out of 2259 runs

1434 runs in NZ in 13 Tests
523 runs in Pakistan+UAE in 4 tests

in Australia 14.25
In England 30.14
In India 21.00
Ind Srilanka 8.00

In UAE 77.20
In Pakistan so far yet to be dismissed

Those numbers in Australia, England, India & Sri Lanka are pure comedy. He should thank Pakistan - he would be on par with Azhar Ali if it wasn’t for Pakistan gifting him runs in UAE & Pakistan.
[MENTION=147292]RedwoodOriginal[/MENTION] tells us Joe Root is not fit to lace his boots, perhaps not against Pakistan I would give him that. No one can bash Pakistan like good old Kane.

 

[Majestic]

Smith, inspite of hitting less double hundreds has an average of 60 tells us about his consistency.

 

[Majestic]

Those numbers in Australia, England, India & Sri Lanka are pure comedy. He should thank Pakistan - he would be on par with Azhar Ali if it wasn’t for Pakistan gifting him runs in UAE & Pakistan.

[MENTION=147292]RedwoodOriginal[/MENTION] tells us Joe Root is not fit to lace his boots, perhaps not against Pakistan I would give him that. No one can bash Pakistan like good old Kane.

South Africa is missing there.

 

[Majestic]

Kane Williamson:

<B>Career Average - 53</B>

Now, batting averages by country:

<B>Australia - 42
India - 33
England - 30
South Africa - 21
Sri Lanka - 26</B>

The contrast:

Pakistan - Infinity
UAE - 64
Windies - 51
BD - 83
Zim - 97

 

[Mamoon]

Kane Williamson:

<B>Career Average - 53</B>

Now, batting averages by country:

<B>Australia - 42
India - 33
England - 30
South Africa - 21
Sri Lanka - 26</B>

The contrast:

Pakistan - Infinity
UAE - 64
Windies - 51
BD - 83
Zim - 97

So basically he is an Azhar/ Shafiq/Rahane level batsman who turns into Bradman against weak attacks.

How on earth does this ordinary batsman gets rated as a modern great?

Someone like Babar, who is clearly inferior to Kohli, Smith & Root, has to do nothing in his career to be better than Williamson.

 

[Ab Fan]

So basically he is an Azhar/ Shafiq/Rahane level batsman who turns into Bradman against weak attacks.

How on earth does this ordinary batsman gets rated as a modern great?

Someone like Babar, who is clearly inferior to Kohli, Smith & Root, has to do nothing in his career to be better than Williamson.

Naah, those guys can't be beast at home also. Kane is like Mahela.

 

[jnaveen1980]

So basically he is an Azhar/ Shafiq/Rahane level batsman who turns into Bradman against weak attacks.

How on earth does this ordinary batsman gets rated as a modern great?

Someone like Babar, who is clearly inferior to Kohli, Smith & Root, has to do nothing in his career to be better than Williamson.

Simon Doull said if he has to pick one to save his life he would pick Williamson.Hope that life saving moment doesn't happen outside UAE/Pakistan/NZ.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Naah, those guys can't be beast at home also. Kane is like Mahela.

Amla >> Kane

 

[MenInG]

 

[MenInG]

 

[Ab Fan]

Quality knock again from Williamson. He has displayed clutch performances albeit at home but his knock vs England in final test and this test in decider is top quality.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Williamson despite his limitations has been a clutch player quite a few times. Obviously nowhere near Smith and Root, but he's probably ahead of Kohli

With that being said, the latest knock was at home, against Sri Lanka on a somewhat flat pitch. Not underrating Sri Lanka, but NZ is one of the top 3 strongest team at home alongside Aus and India.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Brilliant knock.

 

[shaz619]

Quality knock again from Williamson. He has displayed clutch performances albeit at home but his knock vs England in final test and this test in decider is top quality.

Not to mention his performance in the WTC final, underrated contribution to lift the trophy

 

[Bahnz]

Williamson despite his limitations has been a clutch player quite a few times. Obviously nowhere near Smith and Root, but he's probably ahead of Kohli

With that being said, the latest knock was at home, against Sri Lanka on a somewhat flat pitch. Not underrating Sri Lanka, but NZ is one of the top 3 strongest team at home alongside Aus and India.

Because of Williamson. Dude averages nearly 65 in NZ predominantly made at #3. He may be a lightweight in India and England but the dude is an atg in NZ conditions.

Still don’t think he’s quite right. Looks very vulnerable early in his innings which wasn’t the case a couple of years ago before the elbow injury. But still, great innings from a great player.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Virat Kohli versus Kane Williamson in Test cricket

Since most people now consider Smith and Root a notch (or two) above the duo in the thread title, might as well discuss who's better among the two

Virat Kohli

Mat - 108
Runs - 8416
Avg - 48.93
100s - 28

Away avg - 41.73

Average in top 8 test nations - 42.84

Kane Williamson

Mat - 93
Runs - 7909
Avg - 53.80
100s - 27

Away avg - 42.58

Avg in top 8 test nations - 37.42


Who's the 3rd best among Fab 4?

 

[Justcrazy]

Kohli in his peak was better than any batsman of his era.

 

[Buffet]

Kane is simply not up there as best in his generation.

Taken together, he has below 40 average against top 4 oppositions of his era ( Ind, Aus, Eng, SA )

That's his record in nearly 50 tests which includes home and away both. So it's not just about playing in alien conditions, he has not scored against top oppositions even at home.

He has made his career only scoring against the likes of SL, Pakistan, BD, WI etc. Not a top league batsman.

 

[zarak]

Since most people now consider Smith and Root a notch (or two) above the duo in the thread title, might as well discuss who's better among the two

Virat Kohli

Mat - 108
Runs - 8416
Avg - 48.93
100s - 28

Away avg - 41.73

Average in top 8 test nations - 42.84

Kane Williamson

Mat - 93
Runs - 7909
Avg - 53.80
100s - 27

Away avg - 42.58

Avg in top 8 test nations - 37.42


Who's the 3rd best among Fab 4?

Can you do the same for root and smith. Also curious how someone like rahane would do or even Asad Shafiq, guys who don't score big but have scored in tough conditions. Maybe even Dean Elgar

 

[jnaveen1980]

Kane is a good clutch batsman. Not versatile like Root or Smith.

 

[Ab Fan]

Since most people now consider Smith and Root a notch (or two) above the duo in the thread title, might as well discuss who's better among the two

Virat Kohli

Mat - 108
Runs - 8416
Avg - 48.93
100s - 28

Away avg - 41.73

Average in top 8 test nations - 42.84

Kane Williamson

Mat - 93
Runs - 7909
Avg - 53.80
100s - 27

Away avg - 42.58

Avg in top 8 test nations - 37.42


Who's the 3rd best among Fab 4?

Top 8 nations average for Root and Smith?

 

[Ab Fan]

Tests :

Smith - 9.5
Root - 8.5
Kohli - 7.5
Williamson - 7.5

ODIs :

Kohli - 9.5
Root - 7.5
Kane - 7
Smith - 7

 

[happydavy]

In test cricket, Williamson has played a lot of match winning innings, certainly more than Kohli. He may not have been as consistent in away tests as Kohli but time and again he has played some grand innings and closed the matches in victories. Kohli has a lot of excellent innings, unfortunately not many ended up as match winning innings.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Top 8 nations average for Root and Smith?

Root - 47.49

Smith - 59.88 (lol)

Away average btw, not overall

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Even among the top 8 countries, there is some gap in home performance. Here are the best countries at home since 13 July, 2010 (Steve Smith debut in test)

W/L ratio at home

Ind - 8.80
Aus - 4.09
NZ - 3.62
RSA - 2.53
Eng - 2.33
Pak - 1.58 (includes UAE)
SL - 1.14
WI - 0.95

If you only want top 5 (countries with W/L ratio of more than 2), here are their away averages in Ind, Aus, NZ, RSA and Eng

Smith - 58.58
Root - 45.68
Kohli - 43.58
Williamson - 33.57

Smith avg > 50 in Ind, NZ and Eng
Root avg > 50 in Ind, NZ and RSA
Kohli avg > 50 in Aus and RSA
Williamson avg > 50 in none of the top 4

 

[MenInG]

Had an awkward fall in the IPL 2023 opener - hope he is well.

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[Aman]

Kane's injury probably kills any chance we had for the WC.

 

[Bahnz]

Kane's injury probably kills any chance we had for the WC.

Maybe wait until we actually have more info before writing NZ off. Looked bad, and I doubt he’ll play much more of a part in the IPL, but the World Cup is 6 months away, unless he’s blown his ACL he’s a good chance of being fit.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Kane was great in LOIs under McCullum. Once Baz retired, Kane reverted to being more defensive.

 

[Saj]

Had an awkward fall in the IPL 2023 opener - hope he is well.

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="R0Uj8h2"><a href="https://imgur.com/R0Uj8h2">View post on imgur.com</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the IPL 2023, as per a report in Sports Tak. Williamson picked up an injury in IPL 2023 opening game against Chennai Super Kings. Williamson got himself in a tangle while trying to save a boundary during CSK's innings

 

[Ab Fan]

Its a pretty serious one..Will take 4-6 months to recover.

 

[Aman]

Maybe wait until we actually have more info before writing NZ off. Looked bad, and I doubt he’ll play much more of a part in the IPL, but the World Cup is 6 months away, unless he’s blown his ACL he’s a good chance of being fit.

Doctors on social media saying it looked like ACL.

 

[Aman]

Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the IPL 2023, as per a report in Sports Tak. Williamson picked up an injury in IPL 2023 opening game against Chennai Super Kings. Williamson got himself in a tangle while trying to save a boundary during CSK's innings

That looked a given, hopefully he can recover for the WC.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Feel bad for Kane. Very good player and a very good human being. Very down to earth.

 

[Kianig89]

Will he get his full payment or there must be some injury clause

 

[cricketjoshila]

Will he get his full payment or there must be some injury clause

Full payment plus injury treatment. Usually that's what happens for IPL teams.

 

[MenInG]

Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the IPL 2023, as per a report in Sports Tak. Williamson picked up an injury in IPL 2023 opening game against Chennai Super Kings. Williamson got himself in a tangle while trying to save a boundary during CSK's innings

This is now official as confirmed by GT Twitter

 

[MenInG]

Kane Williamson will return to New Zealand for further assessment of the knee injury he suffered in the opening match of the Indian Premier League on Saturday.

The exact nature of his injury and his expected recovery time remain unclear, with the one-day international Cricket World Cup in India due to start in early October – just over six months from now.

Gujarat Titans announced on Sunday that New Zealand's white-ball captain would play no further part in the IPL this season and NZ Cricket confirmed afterwards that he would soon be on his way back home.

Black Caps captain Kane Williamson suffered a knee injury in Gujarat Titans’ Indian Premier League opener.
NZ Cricket said Williamson would "be seen by relevant medical specialists to establish a treatment plan" once he arrived back in New Zealand.

 

[Mamoon]

This could be the beginning of the end for Kane. He will be 33 this summer, and a serious knee injury could hamper his footwork.

I suspect he will probably retire from white ball cricket after the World Cup.

 

[Bahnz]

That looked a given, hopefully he can recover for the WC.

Turns out you were right to be concerned. ACL rupture confirmed. Out for 6-9 months so almost certainly misses the World Cup, and probably misses the Bangladesh tour as well. Hopefully he'll be fit in time for the test series v SA next February.

 

[Aman]

ACL.

Basically gone for the WC

Guess Young at 3 or maybe Rachin comes into the team and everyone moves up one?

We have time to figure things out, I'd like to see Rachin used up the order. He's a top order batsmen and is wasted at 6/7, you need someone more dynamic there.

 

[Aman]

Turns out you were right to be concerned. ACL rupture confirmed. Out for 6-9 months so almost certainly misses the World Cup, and probably misses the Bangladesh tour as well. Hopefully he'll be fit in time for the test series v SA next February.

I don't know what we do tbh. Finn has been way too inconsistent to have a spot locked down. DO they consider bringing in Young to open with Conway and then move Mitchell to 3 and maybe Rachin up the order?

A spot is up for grabs. I do think Rachin could be handy up the order.

 

[Ab Fan]

He played two extremely clutch knocks in Tests before getting injured. He had elevated his stature a bit after those two knocks.

 

[MenInG]

New Zealand coach Gary Stead is refusing to completely rule out experienced batter Kane Williamson from making a full recovery in time to make an appearance at this year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

Williamson ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while fielding for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League earlier this month and the injury was expected to keep the veteran right-hander on the sidelines for the 50-over showcase that is scheduled to be held later this year.

But Stead said Williamson's recent surgery had gone well and he wants to give the 32-year-old every chance to recover in time to feature in another New Zealand World Cup campaign.

"Look, it's still far too early to know," Stead said of Williamson.

"He's had the operation and, to date, what we know, that's been successful. So he is in the very, very early stages of his rehab programme.

"It's obviously pretty non-weight-bearing at this stage, and he's in a brace. So, it's really just meeting milestones as we go.

"Our line around Kane, at the moment, is still it's unlikely that he will be available, but we certainly don't want to rule out a person of his class and calibre, and the things he brings to this team, too early in case there is that chance still."

Stead said he would consider taking Williamson to the World Cup in a mentoring role to the team's younger players should his injury not recover in time as the Kiwis look to go one step better than their runners-up finish behind England in a thrilling final at Lord's in 2019.

Williamson captained New Zealand in that memorable Super Over decider, but it will be a much different Kiwis' outfit this time around following a recent spate of retirements and contract decisions.

The likes of Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill and Trent Boult have either retired from cricket or no longer hold a central playing contract with the Kiwis and the make-up of New Zealand's squad for this year's World Cup is sure to include a few fresh faces.

One of those players likely to be in the mix is Mark Chapman, after the 28-year-old impressed with a match-winning century in the fifth and final T20I against Pakistan earlier this month.

That knock helped Chapman earn a place in New Zealand's squad for the ODI component of the Pakistan tour and Stead believes the left-hander is a player more than capable of performing well on the big stage.

"The (T20I) series result itself was fantastic for the team, if you consider the number of players that are at the IPL" Stead said.

"And we were playing a full-strength Pakistan team - a team that made the T20 (World Cup) final. So, to get a two-all result against them and play the way we did, especially in the last T20 game, was fantastic.

"The Mark Chapman-James Neesham partnership was really, really significant. Obviously, it wasn't the best of starts with the bat, but the composure the two of them showed in that situation was brilliant.

"It was not just one knock about Mark Chapman why he was added to the ODI squad, but there is a lot of competition for places and it's not so much about the competition, but it's how we keep building towards the World Cup. And Mark Chapman is one guy who is in our thoughts around that."

ICC

 

[MenInG]

KW on his injury rehab:

"I'm just trying to keep it week-to-week at the moment"

"I'm making progress, but I'm not putting a timeline on anything. I haven't had such a long-term injury before but talking to other people that have, the journey is a bit of a long one so if you look too far ahead it can probably become a little bit daunting.

"Whereas, one week at a time, ticking off those small markers, those little wins that are nice to experience. But also knowing that the journey won't be completely smooth and you have a few setbacks along the way that you have to navigate.

 

[James]

an ACL at his age? jeepers.

Im not saying he’s finished, he’s still a class player and oozes resilience as he demonstrated at the start of this year, but this one could really take some coming back from.