New Zealand’s skipper Kane Williamson is struggling with an injury that he sustained during the IPL 2023 game, playing for Gujarat Titans, and is still recovering. He is likely to miss the upcoming ODI World Cup later this year. Despite being injured, New Zealand coach Gary Stead said they may rope in Williamson as a mentor.

“It’s still far too early to know. To date what we know, that’s been successful. He’s in the very early stages of his rehab programme. It’s obviously pretty weight-bearing at this stage and he’s in a brace,” Stead said.

“It’s really just meeting milestones as we go. It’s unlikely that he will be available, but we certainly don’t want to rule out a person of his class and calibre and the things that he brings to this team too early in case there is that chance,” he added.

It was while making his debut for Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023, Kane got injured last month. He went through surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee.

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There are chances that star batter Mark Chapman may take Williamson’s place in the  World Cup squad after his heroics in the T20 series against Pakistan. The left-hander batter has made 290 runs in the five-match series at a strike rate of 166 with the help of an unbeaten hundred in the final game.

“It’s not just about one knock of Mark Chapman, why he was added to the ODI squad, but there is a lot of competition for places. It’s not so much about the competition, but it’s how we keep building towards the World Cup and Mark Chapman is still one guy that is in our thoughts around that,” Stead added.