Although Kane Williamson has started hitting the net, there is a big uncertainty over his participation in the upcoming ODI World Cup as he has been in the race to fitness ever since he ruptured his ACL on the opening night of IPL 2023. While he said that it will take time to heal, he has been recovering well in just around four months after the injury.

“If the knee is at a stage where that can be a reality, that’s great, but it very much is about getting it right and making sure it is ready to go when that time comes – whenever that time is,” Kane Williamson said ahead of a net session in Mount Maunganui. “You do have some good days, then you have a few variable ones. It’s all part of the journey, it’s hard to get too far ahead of yourself, because you see something really good in one place, but you still know there’s a lot of work to do. If I end up at a place where it’s realistic because all these bases are covered and it’s ticked off by the people who know a lot more about it than me, then that’s great.”

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Although Williamson hasn’t been named for New Zealand’s tour of England, he will remain a strong prospect for the World Cup. While speaking a couple of days earlier, head coach Gary Stead said that they would “definitely be considering” picking Kane Williamson even if he’s available and match-fit at a later stage in the tournament as well.

“To potentially have that opportunity and use all those sorts of different, I suppose, scenarios to try and make that happen would be great,” Kane Williamson said on getting picked for the World Cup. “It’s still just guesswork at the moment in terms of when the day is or how it’s tracking at the time. So it is just about now and I’m working hard to keep it moving forward.”

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“It’s a tricky one. You start entertaining a few earlier targets. It is a lot about the healing element as well. You can have the strength work, the movement, the confidence, but the actual healing is what has to happen and there are a lot of things to really assess before that time. So, that series (against Bangladesh), by all accounts, is too early,” he concluded.