IND vs NZ Test Series 2024 - Kane Williamson Ruled Out of 1st Test
Author: Vishnu Reddy
Updated At:
The former Kiwi all-format captain Kane Williamson is all set to miss out on the first Test against India commencing on October 16 at Bengaluru. Kane suffered a groin injury in the recently concluded Test series in Sri Lanka last month and was flown to New Zealand for further treatment. Unfortunately, due to the scale of the injury, his departure from the country has been delayed as the 34-year-old was required to endure extended rehabilitation.
Kane comes with a lot of experience and his omission from the first Test will surely hurt New Zealand who are desperately seeking an urgent turnaround in their fortunes in Test cricket. Instead, New Zealand has added Mark Chapman and the team will be lead by Tom Latham. He assumed the captaincy role after Tim Southee decided to step down as a captain after suffering a dissapointing 2-0 loss against Sri Lanka.
How will Kane’s absence impact New Zealand in the Test series?
Kane has an incredible record against India in Test cricket. He has a few notable match-winning performances in this format and averages nearly 40 which includes 2 centuries & 5 half-century. Besides, his career-best Test innings of 131 against India also came on Indian soil. At a time when New Zealand’s batting in the longest format has been nothing short of questionable. Kane’s assessment of the typical subcontinent conditions would have been invaluable for the budding Kiwi cricketers who are in their formative stages.
Black Caps selector Sam Wells remains hopeful to see him in action later on in the series but confirms that the Kiwi batting legend will miss the first Test. In order to facilitate a swift recovery, Kane and his team were advised to extend the rehab period which would help him mitigate the risk of further aggravating the injury.
Wells said, "The advice we've received is that the best course of action is for Kane to rest and rehabilitate now rather than risk aggravating the injury. We're hopeful that if the rehabilitation goes to plan Kane will be available for the latter part of the tour.”
Kane's injury leaves a window of opportunity for Chapman who has represented New Zealand in 78 white-ball matches. He is yet to make his Test debut but comes with an experience of six FC games for New Zealand A. In one of the games, Chapman slammed a century against India A back in 2020. With Willaimson injured the betting odds offered by the online cricket betting sites will highly be in favour of India and New Zealand’s chances of winning is low at the moment.
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