Kane Williamson uncertain about his future in T20Is following New Zealand's World Cup exit
Kane Williamson uncertain about his future in T20Is following New Zealand's World Cup exit
NEW DELHI: New Zealand captain stated that the team will need some time to recover after their unexpected early departure from the T20 World Cup. He was uncertain about his participation in the 2026 edition of the prestigious tournament.
Williamson, who plays in all formats and is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of the modern era, has been the batting backbone of the BlackCaps for more than a decade.
With Williamson in the team, New Zealand reached three finals - the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups, the 2021 T20 World Cup, and the first-ever World Test Championship final, which they won. In three of those four tournaments, Williamson led the BlackCaps.
"When asked if he'd return for the 2026 edition, Williamson said: "Oh, I don't know."
New Zealand's campaign concluded with an easy seven-wicket victory over minnows Papua New Guinea. For the first time in 10 years, they did not make it to the semifinals. Trent Boult, the team's pace spearhead, has already announced that this T20 World Cup was his last.
"There's a bit of time between now and then, so it's regrouping as a side. And yeah, we've sort of got red ball cricket over the next year basically.
"So yeah, it's back into some international other formats and yeah, see where things land," he added.
Reflecting on New Zealand's brief stint at the T20 Word Cup, the 34-year-old said, "I think no matter what happens, you're always want to do more."
"But it's been really unique, a unique experience for all the guys. The conditions have been challenging I think for batters all around, but it's just about trying to find a way."
New Zealand were the last team to kickstart their campaign. They were out of contention for the Super Eights within the space of four days, courtesy back-to-back losses to Afghanistan and West Indies.
"It took a long time to start, and then in a matter of days, we were sort of not in contention, which was frustrating. We wanted to start the campaign strong, and we weren't able to do that," Williamson said.
"We played against a couple of very strong sides who are very well equipped in these conditions and unfortunately it was the difference in our first two games and then some decent cricket in the last two, so all in all frustrating.
"But I think the learnings for certainly players that come back, perhaps to this part of the world or in some of these conditions, they've been somewhat challenging and so some good experiences to have going forward," he added.
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