Gujarat Titans' Kane Williamson is carried off the field after injuring his right knee. Photo / AP
Gujarat Titans' Kane Williamson is carried off the field after injuring his right knee. Photo / AP
Black Caps coach Gary Stead says it’s too early to know whether Kane Williamson will be in doubt for the World Cup after he suffered a potentially costly injury.
Williamson injured his right knee while making his debut for the Gujarat Titans in the first match of the Indian Premier League season on Saturday morning.
The 32-year-old appeared in some pain and had to be helped from the field, sending a scare to the Black Caps ahead of this year’s ODI World Cup in India.
Stead had been in touch with his skipper and said they would know more once Williamson had received further assessment in the coming days.
“We’re not sure at this stage of the severity of the injury,” the coach said. “He’s being assessed in the next 24 to 48 hours, so we’ll know more after that.
“He was obviously in some pain and it’s not nice to see anyone injured - let alone the captain of your white-ball team. So it’s a big blow for him and a big blow for us.”
Williamson suffered the injury while leaping for a catch in the deep-square-leg boundary in an attempt to intercept a shot from Ruturaj Gaikwad of the Chennai Super Kings.
The Kiwi managed to save two runs by palming the ball back in play, when it had been heading over the rope, but fell awkwardly on his right leg and immediately went down, clutching his knee in pain.
Kane Williamson's attempt at the catch. Photo / Sky
After receiving treatment for several minutes, he was helped off the field and would not return.
It was Williamson’s first match for Gujarat after his move from the Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he had played since 2015.
Another major injury would be cruel on the batsman, who only recently recovered from a long-standing elbow issue.
Gujarat Titan's Kane Williamson is carried off the field after injuring his right knee. Photo / AP
Williamson, who stepped down as New Zealand test captain last December, had been in strong form for the test side this year, scoring back-to-back centuries in thrilling tests against England and Sri Lanka, as well as double tons against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
If healthy, he is expected to be a key member of the Black Caps’ World Cup campaign later this year.
Without Williamson, Gujarat still managed to beat Chennai — who featured Black Caps Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner — chasing down 178-7 to win by five wickets with four balls remaining.
