Williamson would be fit around the start of IPL, says Gary Stead
Mar 09, 2021
Auckland [New Zealand], March 9 : New Zealand head coach Gary Stead on Tuesday said that skipper Kane Williamson would possibly recover from his elbow injury around the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Stead also said that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) would talk to Williamson and his IPL franchise SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) so that the New Zealand skipper does not rush his comeback from the injury.
NZC on Tuesday confirmed that skipper Kane Williamson has been ruled out from the upcoming three-match ODI series against Bangladesh due to a left elbow injury. Williamson has a small tear in his left-elbow tendon and he had been experiencing irritation in the back-half of the summer.
"It's likely in about three weeks that Kane will be pretty close to being right up ready to go so that fits in with the time frames around the start of the IPL. We'll keep talking with him and Sunrisers Hyderabad as well and just making sure he is 100% before he starts again," ESPNcricinfo quoted Stead as saying.
"What we want Kane to do be able to do is bat pain free and bat for long periods of time. We've taken that view, looking after him after making sure his body is in the best condition it can be is paramount for us. I don't expect there will be any long term problems with this, just this period of rest is what he needs right now," he added.
NZC Medical Manager Dayle Shackel also said that it was clear that the injury needed targeted intervention.
"Kane's been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn't improved. He obviously has a high volume of training and playing across the three formats, which has inhibited his ability to recover. We believe he now needs a period of rest and rehabilitation to get the injury right," Shackel said in an official NZC release.
The Kiwis ODI squad will be released first thing on Thursday morning. The first ODI against Bangladesh is on Saturday, March 20 at the University of Otago Oval in Dunedin.
