New Zealand captain Kane Williamson could travel with the team for the ODI World Cup later this year in India, but in a new role. Kane is likely to be the ‘Mentor’ of his side if he remains injured or unavailable to play the tournament.
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead on Wednesday refused to rule Williamson out of the World Cup as a player just yet.
“Look, it’s still far too early to know. 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,” Stead said ahead of the five-match ODI series in Pakistan.
“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 caliber, and the things he brings to this team, too early in case there is that chance still.
“Yeah, absolutely [would take him to India as a mentor],” he added.
The wait for the schedule has somewhat disrupted New Zealand’s long-term planning.
“It [schedule] is not out yet, so there’s not much we can do about that. So it does keep our options reasonably open without knowing the venues and who we are playing at different venues,” Stead said.
“So, it does make it pretty difficult to finalize plans right now. But that again just gives players opportunities, that are within the squad now, to come out here [in Pakistan] and play for New Zealand,” he added.