Kane Williamson has stepped down as the Test skipper of the New Zealand side, leaving social media in a shock. Meanwhile, Tim Southee has been announced as his replacement.
Kane Williamson, who led New Zealand to the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 conquest in its inaugural edition, stepped down as captain from the most extended format, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced on Thursday. Veteran pacer Tim Southee has been named his replacement in its WTC title defence. Williamson will continue to captain the side in the white-ball format, focusing on the ICC World Cup 2023 and ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Wicketkeeper-opener Tom Latham has been assigned as its vice-captain.
Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson - Now the all member of Fab 4 are not the Test captains of their countries.
End of an Era! pic.twitter.com/PfrAMsQz7S
"Captaining the Black Caps in Test cricket has been an extraordinary honour. For me, Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game, and I've enjoyed the challenges of leading the side in the format," said Williamson, who had taken over the role in 2016 from Brendon McCullum. Statistically, Williamson has been the best Test skipper in New Zealand's history, winning 22 of 40 games at the helm, eight draws, and just ten collapses.
Virat Kohli stepped down as Test captain.
Joe Root stepped down as Test captain.
Kane Williamson stepped down as Test captain.
All in one year - End of an Era.
Under his leadership, New Zealand reached the pinnacle of the Test rankings before materialising as the champion of WTC, conquering India in the Final in June last year. On his judgment, Williamson conveyed: "Captaincy comes with an increased workload on and off the field. And, at this career stage, the time is right for this decision. After discussions with NZC, we felt that continuing to captain the white-ball formats was preferable with two World Cups in the next two years."
Kane Williamson in his first match as full time Test captain (2016)
Felt like this journey had just started and now it’s over :/ pic.twitter.com/YXpjrnRPDX
Williamson enunciated that Southee and Latham would have him as a reference of support throughout his term. "I'm excited to support Tim as captain and Tom as vice-captain. Having played with both of them for most of my career, I'm confident they'll do a great job," he articulated. Southee, who has played 346 internationals and has led the Twenty20 (T20) side on 22 occurrences, will become New Zealand's 31st Test skipper, leading the side during this month's Test tour to Pakistan.
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Few can argue that Kane Williamson was a great Kiwi Test skipper and will be missed in that role. Good to see the modern trend whereby bowlers are considered for captaincy. Southee has the experience and is the right man for the job.
— Iceland Cricket (@icelandcricket)The opening Test begins on Boxing Day in Karachi. "It's been a surreal few days, and it's just a massive honour to be appointed as Test captain. I love Test cricket, it's the ultimate challenge, and I'm excited to lead the team in this format. Kane's been an outstanding Test captain, and I'm looking forward to working with Gary on how we can build on that," Southee said.
Respect Kane decision its our first priority 🛐❤️🥺
End of an era😔💙 pic.twitter.com/aW2oz2M3Pq
Delivering his honour to Williamson, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead stated: "Kane's guided the Test team through an immensely successful period which is a testament to his ability to bring people together and work towards a common goal. "He's undoubtedly led from the front with his performances, which was very much the case during our push to win the World Test Championship."
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First it was Virat Kohli, then Joe Root and now Kane Williamson.
All these three players of Faf 4 has step down from Test Captaincy in the same year 2022.
End of their 's era. pic.twitter.com/NdzrO2Er7b
"The Test team has continued to evolve and develop during his time, and we've been able to introduce new players and see them thrive almost instantly, is a credit to Kane and his leadership. We hope we can continue to see the best of Kane Williamson for longer on the international stage by lessening his workload, and we know he will remain a key leader in this group," added Stead.
Congratulating Kane Williamson on his tremendous career as Test captain of New Zealand. He helped his team win the World Test Championship that will go down as one of the greatest achievements in the history of Test cricket. pic.twitter.com/TZkK7Tbl0w
— Kunal (@kunaljoshi93)Sead conveyed that the determination to establish Southee as skipper came down to the directive the Test team wanted to run. "Tim's a quality leader with a good cricket brain. We've seen his captaincy skills on display with the T20 side, and I'm sure he'll continue to bring an aggressive style whilst still maintaining the core fundamentals of how this Blackcaps team operates in the Test arena. He will also come from a slightly different perspective in being a bowler, which I'm sure will bring new ideas and fresh thinking," he concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)
Kane Williamson made history.
He led 🇳🇿 to World Test Championship. He’s the only captain to win more than twice as many Tests as he lost.
His record stands apart.
Top 6 captains by WLR:
Williamson 22-10
Howarth 11-7
Coney 5-4
Fleming 28-27
McCullum 11-11
Wright 3-3