Nasser Hussain gets mobbed

“We were also fortunate not to experience many setbacks during that time, so there were many small steps forward, which I suppose accumulate to being here now really and getting close and realizing that if each week does continue to progress well, crossing off all those kinds of milestones along the way, which there are many of them, then there might be a chance. And yes, I’m thankful that it was possible, and hearing my name called for the team was quite exciting.

Following that, Williamson was given some playing time during the warm-up matches against Pakistan and South Africa. Williamson went 4, 4, 4 against Haris Rauf’s quick bowling in the powerplay of his first batting innings in more than six months. He then pushed on to make 54 off 50 balls before retiring in Hyderabad.
Williamson batted as if he hadn’t missed a beat during the two training sessions at Chepauk. He middled almost every ball against New Zealand’s spinners on Wednesday night, and on Thursday, when Trent Boult raced him with an effort ball, Williamson calmly swung his head out of the path.

“Yeah, the recovery was … [a] journey really with a series of really small steps and just trying to take small steps forward and it certainly started with strength and range, in terms of the knee,” Williamson stated. “It’s amazing to be here, and then to get part in those warm-up games, which were really, really entertaining. And then progressively trying to improve that and control a bit of the pain surrounding it as the load builds. But I’ll fast-forward a little bit.

“There were many distinct steps along the road that you were attempting to cross off, various milestones in terms of returning to the following phases, and things of that nature. So it was extremely different, and a lot of data was used, mostly from other sports.”
Kane Williamson discusses how his knee injury rehabilitation was different from his past elbow injury rehabilitation

“Then you know during those and after that there were a lot of sort of return-to-play fitness parts, which were perhaps a little bit more related to fielding, time on feet, and looking to try and execute some of those skills,” the author continued. And so, yes, every week over the past few months that I’ve been in rehab has been really significant and meaningful.

Williamson was unable to bat during the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021 due to an elbow niggle, but he found a way around it. Will his prior knowledge of managing injuries help him this time even if the nature of the injury and the format have changed?

“Quite different injuries but yeah, I suppose speaking of this one you know there were lots of quite clear steps along the way that you were trying to tick off, different milestones in terms of returning to the next phases and those sorts of things,” Williamson stated. “So quite different, a lot of data around it, mainly from other sports that was relied on and different strength numbers and heights and jumping and just heaps and heaps of different bits.”Therefore, although totally different, it is wonderful to be sitting here and anticipating the challenges ahead.

Williamson’s recovery gives New Zealand a big advantage when they play spin-friendly Bangladesh at Chepauk. Along with Devon Conway, who is returning to his IPL home base, he is perhaps New Zealand’s top spin player.