Kane Williamson. Pic Credits: X

NZ vs ENG: Gary Stead Hopeful Of Kane Williamson’s Return Against England

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New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has expressed strong belief that the former New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will be available to play in the first Test of their home summer against England, which is scheduled to be played from November 28 at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Kane Williamson is out of action for a while due to a groin injury, that he sustained during New Zealand‘s recent tour of Sri Lanka, just before the Test series againt India. He also missed the tour of India as he is under recovery. Earlier, he was set to play the ongoing third Test in Mumbai but the New Zealand management decided not to take the risk.

Very confident of Kane Williamson’s return in England series – Gary Stead

On being asked about Williamson’s availablity for the upcoming home series against England, Stead replied “Yeah, very confident,”  for the first Test against England. He said that he was hoping Williamson would use the time off to make himself ready for the England series.

“I mean at a push we could have got him in India immediately, but considering I guess the travel factor and making sure that you can actually recover properly when you get here, we didn’t feel though that was worth the risk. So we’re happy with having him ready and very, very confident he’ll be right for that first Test versus England,” said Gary Stead.

Kane Williamson is New Zealand’s greatest Test run scorer- Gary Stead

New Zealand performed really well in the absence of their star batter Kane Williamson, against India and secured a historic series win by defeating India at their home after 12 long years. In his absence, Will Young stepped up, at No. 3, he produced some promising innings for the Kiwis and impressed with his resilience against Indian bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah.

“Look, it’s always disappointing when he’s not over here with us,” Stead said of Williamson.

“I mean, he’s New Zealand’s greatest Test run-scorer for a reason, and I think whenever you have Kane in your side, it looks a stronger side, But the guys have gone really well,” he added.

“We’ve adapted well without him here. The best thing for Kane is just to get himself completely right for England and we’re certainly looking forward to him coming back and hopefully making a difference in that Test series over there for us,” he further explained.

New Zealand will take on to England after their historic tour in India, where they won their first ever Test series in the country. The Black Caps skipper Tom Latham will be looking more confident with Kane Williamson’s return in the first Test at Chrishtchurch.

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