Kane Williamson shows his class on return from injury, again

March 31, 2023, Ahmedabad, Kane Williamson, after years of representing (and captaining) the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), has arrived in the Gujarat Titans (GT) camp, hoping to salvage his IPL reputation post a middling 2022 edition. At the auction a few months ago, there was no bidding war for Williamson, yet, when the Titans acquired him, it felt like a shrewd move. He was Kane Williamson, after all.

His turn to bat has not arrived yet, because the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are making first use of the surface. They have rattled along to a relatively brisk start, with Ruturaj Gaikwad firing on all cylinders.

In the 13th over, bowled by Josh Little, Gaikwad heaves a shortish delivery towards deep mid-wicket. For a while, it feels like Williamson has it covered on the fence. But in reality, there is not much chance that he will be able to stop it. Still, he puts his body on the line and dives to his right but when he comes down, all of his weight falls on his right knee, which twists and causes him plenty of pain.

There is a hush around the ground, and from thousands back in New Zealand. Their skipper, months out from the World Cup, had picked up a knee injury, and without their talisman, a World Cup charge seemed improbable. All they can do now is hold their breath and hope…

Cut to October.

Williamson has not played a competitive match since that game in Ahmedabad, although there are murmurs that he is not far away. He bats in both of the Blackcaps’ warm-up fixtures, bats quite well, and then retires out, which, most likely would have been pre-meditated.

A few days later, the moment finally arrives. Against Bangladesh. In Chennai. On a track that has not been easy for batting. And with New Zealand looking to enhance an already promising start.

The Kiwis lose Rachin Ravindra early and defending 246, Bangladesh feel they have a sniff, not just because of the conditions but also because Williamson, having spent so much time on the side-lines, is bound to be slightly undercooked, despite batting in the warm-ups.

But that is the thing about Williamson. What does not come naturally to others, comes almost instinctively to him. Many others might have fretted over how they would perform in their first game back. The New Zealand captain, it must be noted, looks fairly scratchy but he does what all great batters do – guts it out, and find a way to score runs.

By the start of the 38th over, he has 77 to his name. He then attempts a quick single to mid-off and…..catastrophe. No, it is not his knee. The throw by the fielder was so far off target that it smashed into the Kiwi skipper’s left thumb, the only place where there is no protection on the gloves for a right-handed batter.

He tries to bat on, but after one more delivery, decides that he cannot. Walks back, not quite dejected, but disappointed and fearful of what might lie ahead, and as fate would have it, he is diagnosed with a fracture on the thumb.

All that hard work, all those hours of sweat and tears to get back, all that effortless stroke play, and now, more time on the sidelines.

Until…the fourth of November, in Bengaluru, with New Zealand’s World Cup campaign on the line. Williamson returns (of course he does) and produces an innings that makes you wonder if he had missed any cricket, let alone months.

It is not as if he is batting against an average bowling attack either. Yet, the likes of Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, and Shaheen Shah Afridi are treated as ordinary adversaries.

Kane Williamson was at his sumptuous best against Pakistan

When they bowl full, they are caressed through the off-side or whipped through mid-wicket. When they go shorter, the trademark back-foot off-side punch comes out, and when it is on the pads, he swivel-pulls them as only he can.

And when Pakistan turned to spin, Williamson danced down the track and lofted it over extra cover and mid-wicket, based on what field was set.

What this shows is that his mind was ticking, and it was ticking in the right direction. He was not fretting over how much cricket he had missed, or anxious over whether he would find his touch or not. He just watched the ball, picked his option, and executed it with the sort of surgical precision he is renowned for.

Williamson could not quite get to his hundred, but that was more because he wanted to keep increasing the scoring rate, rather than just nudge his way to three figures. The archetypal Williamson thing to do most would say.

And that, in a nutshell, is why New Zealand and this World Cup need Williamson. There are not many who bat as gracefully as the Kiwi skipper and only a handful among them turn up when it really matters for their time.

The occasion, in isolation, was quite big, but the fact that Williamson was returning from injury, not just for the first time at this World Cup, made it even more special.

He showed his class, and that will make New Zealand a much better team for what remains of this World Cup. Of course, it does not mean he scores heavily from now until the end of the tournament, but it does give the Kiwis the kind of security they need in the middle order, and the cushion that should, in theory, liberate those around the skipper.

In simpler words, it allows New Zealand to breathe a sigh of relief. After months of holding their breath collectively, that was perhaps long overdue too.