Williamson to miss New Zealand's World Cup opener against England

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will miss the opening match of the 2023 ODI World Cup against England as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.

Williamson will play as an expert hitter in New Zealand's warm-up match against Pakistan in Hyderabad on Friday, determined to field and batting in their next warm-up game against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

"Right from the beginning we've taken a drawn out view on Kane's re-visitation of play," New Zealand's lead trainer Gary Stead said. "His recuperation is following great and it's presently a question of ensuring he can adapt to the afflictions and force of worldwide cricket. We'll keep on adopting a step by step strategy to Kane's recovery and unquestionably will not be coming down on him to return before he is prepared."

Williamson is getting back from a six-month cutback subsequent to cracking his foremost cruciate tendon (leg tendon) in the initial match of IPL 2023 and going through a medical procedure. He proceeded with his recovery in Britain alongside the public side and had a "want to be involved" On the planet Cup warm-up matches.

"It's simply needing to advance [with] what I'm doing now - the running, the handling, and furthermore time in the center with the bat," Williamson had expressed in front of the group's takeoff to India recently.

"The heap will continue to increment, so there is a smidgen of an unexplored world. Yet, it has felt very great truly over the most recent couple of weeks, [I'm] trusting it keeps on feeling like that. In any case, we're most certainly hoping to address more stuff, [and] bringing myself into the game mode, which is something which we haven't had the chance to do."

In Williamson's nonappearance, Tom Latham will skipper New Zealand On the planet Cup opener against Britain on October 5 in Ahmedabad. Latham will likewise lead in the two warm-up matches, with Williamson's emphasis simply on getting fit in time for New Zealand's subsequent World Cup game against the Netherlands on October 9.