Williamson ruled out of Bangladesh ODIs with elbow injury

Auckland: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the ODI series against Bangladesh with an elbow injury, country’s cricket board (NZC) confirmed on Tuesday.

Williamson has a small tear in his left elbow tendon that he battled throughout the second half of New Zealand’s summer. He also sat out New Zealand’s domestic T20 Super Smash earlier this year due to a niggle in his elbow but returned to action in time for the Black Caps’ recent 3-2 series win over Australia.

“Kane’s been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn’t improved,” NZC Medical Manager Dayle Shackel said on Tuesday.

“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.

Time-frames can vary but we’re hopeful that, after an initial rest, he should be able to begin rehabilitation next week,” he added.

Black Caps coach Gary Stead said that while Williamson’s presence will be missed, this was ultimately the right course of action.

“Kane loves playing for his country - so it hasn’t been an easy decision to step back. A batsman’s front elbow is crucial to his game and with the injury not improving it was clear something needed to be done,” Stead said.

“We’ve got a huge year of cricket ahead with an England Test tour and ICC World Test Championship Final first up in May and June, and we want to make sure we have Kane fit and firing for that.

“We will certainly miss his class and leadership in the upcoming Bangladesh series, but his omission will no doubt present an opportunity for someone else when the ODI squad is named,” he added.

New Zealand squad will be announced on Thursday, nine days out from the first ODI on March 20.

It also remains to be seen what impact this decision has on Williamson’s IPL participation for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the upcoming season that begins in exactly a month’s time. (UNI)