Wellington Firebirds batsman Tom Blundell will travel to India as cover but will not officially be part of the squad, while Williamson rehabilitates the injury.
Black Caps coach Gary Stead was hopeful Williamson would still be able to play a part in the tournament.
“Firstly, we’re all feeling for Kane to have this occur after all his hard work to return from his knee injury. While it’s disappointing news, the initial diagnosis has given us some optimism he can still feature later in the pool play following a period of rest and rehabilitation. Kane is clearly a massive part of our side and a world-class player and captain - so we’ll look to give him every opportunity we can to return in the tournament.”
Stead said Blundell’s versatility saw him selected to join as cover, while Henry Nicholls wasn’t considered after suffering a mild side strain during Canterbury’s Plunket Shield warm-up match against Otago during the week.
“Tom’s been with the one-day side on tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh and performed well. He covers multiple positions in the batting order and his wicket-keeping skills are also an added bonus as a back-up.”
The new injury clouded what had been an encouraging comeback appearance. Williamson stroked eight boundaries and a six during his 107-ball stay, combining with Daryl Mitchell (89no off 67) in an unbroken match-winning stand of 108.
He appeared occasionally unsteady when turning for a second run but lacked nothing in timing with the bat, accumulating easily all around the ground
Williamson earlier fielded for 50 overs without incident in his first official match since rupturing his ACL, as Lockie Ferguson (3-49) led a pace attack that effectively utilised bounce to set up a third straight victory.
Williamson injured his knee and suffered an ACL injury while playing for the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League on April 2 but will link up in England with the ODI squad next month to continue his recovery.
After facing Afghanistan on Wednesday, the Black Caps enter the segment of the schedule that will determine their semifinal fate, starting with a showdown against hosts India next Saturday.
Luke Kirkness is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He previously covered consumer affairs for the Herald and was an assistant news director in the Bay of Plenty. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019.
