Revealed: Who will captain New Zealand in absence of Kane Williamson in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Kane Williamson has been ruled out for close to a month after fracturing thumb during Bangladesh game.

It has been a fantastic start to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 for New Zealand. They played in the finals of the last two editions of World Cup in 2015 and 2019, respectively, and they have started this tournament in an even better way. New Zealand thrashed the defending champions England in the tournament's opener in Ahmedabad. It was followed by an easy win against Netherlands.

Notably, the first two wins came without their regular captain, Kane Williamson, who was not completely fit to play in those games. However, Williamson featured in the third match against Bangladesh. He looked good and scored an unbeaten 78 before getting hit on the hand, getting retired hurt and going off the field. Later, he went for scans, and it was confirmed that his left thumb had been fractured.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Tom Latham to replace Kane Williamson as New Zealand's captain

New Zealand suffered a big setback as Kane Williamson suffered a fracture on his left thumb. This has put his participation in the remaining tournament under scanner. As per the news coming from the Kiwi camp, it has been learned that Williamson will be out of action for at least a month, which means he will almost miss the entire World Cup. He might make make a comeback in the last stage of the ongoing tournament as notified by their head coach Gary Stead.

However, until Kane Williamson is not available and fit to play, it will be Tom Latham who will be leading the side. Latham was the captain in the first two games, did a great job, and led the team to wins. New Zealand are scheduled to play their next game against Afghanistan on October 18 at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai.

The pitch in Chennai helps spinners a lot, and Williamson's absence will surely be a big setback for his team because he is among the best batters in modern cricket. Without Williamson, it might be a testing time for New Zealand. Though they will hope that he can recover in time and can feature in the next game against India on October 22 in Dharamsala, which is a big game.