IND vs NZ 2022-23: Kane Williamson has an arduous task to lead his side against India in the upcoming three-match T20I and ODI series, starting Friday. Meanwhile, he has clarified his stance on playing all three formats.
New Zealand and India did not have the best outing in the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, having been ousted in the semis by Pakistan and England, respectively. Meanwhile, the two sides begin their post-T20WC phase, with the latter touring the former for limited-overs contests. Also, host skipper Kane Williamson will have the daunting task of leading his side to glory, which is ranked better than them in the format. Additionally, his performance across formats has been highly inconsistent, and questions have been raised if playing all three formats is hurting his effectiveness. Consequently, he has clarified his stance on the same.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Williamson elucidated, "Yeah, I love all the formats for different reasons, and playing the three and changing between them is an enjoyable challenge. But there is a balance to strike in terms of just general volume, and that's important. Everybody is a little bit challenged by that, certainly some of the players that may have done it for a long time, and you're always looking to be clear with that direction - to stay fresh and focused on what is most important with your involvement in any team. Yeah, always looking to monitor that space as well as you can."
On being asked if the Kiwis are about to go through a transition, Williamson felt otherwise and said, "You sort of hope that whilst you're here, and trying to do as well as you can as a team, and with all the other individuals involved, that there's a real effort to try and grow the game, to try and play your role to the best of your ability, to try and improve as much as you can as a player. And hopefully, that sort of adds to our depth of cricket."
"But, focusing on what's in front of you is important. And, in years to come, there'll be a transition, or perhaps a transition a little bit earlier - that's always happening in professional sport. And, whoever the next group or crop are, they'll, I'm sure, have a lot of motivation to want to get better as a team and go even further as a side as well," concluded Williamson.
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On his IPL release by SRH
Commenting on his release by former Indian Premier League (IPL) champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), Williamson described, "No, not really [surprised]. There are many competitions worldwide, and the IPL is an amazing completion to be a part of. You see players play for different teams all the time."
"There are many options, a lot of cricket, so I love playing all formats. That's the way it goes. I had a fun time at SRH, and I have a lot of fond memories. It wasn't a surprise when it [retention list] was officially released," concluded Williamson.