Kane Williamson

There is certainly no doubt about the fact that by the time, Kane Williamson bids adieu from international cricket, he will be regarded as the greatest ever Kiwis batsmen to have graced the game. Fans from the yesteryears might contradict the fact and call Martin Crowe the greatest ever New Zealand batsman. However, Williamson is not only one of the greatest modern day cricketers but is also a perfect role model for the young budding cricketers. 

His approach to the game both on and off the field makes him one of the greatest ambassadors of the game. Everyone will remember the smiling face of Williamson despite New Zealand losing the 2019 World Cup final by the barest of margins. Despite the match getting tied and the super over also getting tied, England managed to win the quadrennial event owing to hitting more boundaries and still New Zealand shrugged off that disappointment with a smile. 

Williamson made his first-class debut for the Northern Districts in 2007 at the tender age of 17. He still continues to be part of the team. Williamson belongs from a sporting background. His father played age-group cricket for the Northern Districts while his mother was a representative basketball player. So sports was in his blood and it came quite naturally to him. 

Kane Williamson was part of the New Zealand U 19 team during the World Cup in 2008 which was won by India under the current captain Virat Kohli. Despite being pretty modest with his skills, Williamson was touted to be the next big thing in New Zealand. His batting oozed class and he had the ability to play different molds. 

From a very early age, Williamson piled on runs against the spinners which proved to be quite evident during his debut Test match in India in 2010 when he became the 8th New Zealand batsman to smash a century on Test debut. He never looked like a player making his debut at a place where not many relish scoring runs on their debut. He was at his ominous best and the signs were quite evident for the future. 

From there on, Williamson started taking giant strides in his international career. He evolved as a premier batsman for the Kiwis and churned out runs with the utmost ease. The comfort with which he plays in all formats makes him a special talent. He plays the ball very late and despite this being a T20 era, Williamson has adjusted quite beautifully to the requirements of all the formats. 

Unlike his Test debut, Williamson’s ODI debut was far from impressive. He started off with two ducks in his first two matches. He finally made a statement against Bangladesh in his 5th ODI with a maiden ODI ton. He took time to establish himself in the limited-overs format but his street smart instincts were for everyone to see and he soon became the frontrunner to take up the mantle from a highly influential Brendon McCullum. He scored five consecutive 50+ scores on two occasions in just 20 months since 2014. 

He was an automatic choice for the post of captaincy after McCullum stepped down from the post following New Zealand’s heartbreaking loss in the 2015 World Cup final against Australia. 

He was appointed the skipper in the 2016 T20 World Cup and the team fared well before eventually losing to England in the semi-final. He proved to a perfect replacement for Brendon McCullum and looked set to take New Zealand to greater heights. 

The year 2018 saw Williamson becoming the first New Zealand skipper to win in Pakistan for 49 years and also became the 4th Kiwis skipper to win a Test series against England. Despite having a solid technique, Williamson has the ability to play the big shots and mold into any T20 team. 

Williamson took his game to another level during the 2019 World Cup where he not only won the Man of the Series award for having an exceptional tournament with the bat and also as the skipper, his conduct all through the tournament earned him accolades from all across the globe and was an excellent advertisement for the gentleman’s game. To carry himself the way he did after that infamous 2019 World Cup final speaks volumes about a man who is destined for sheer greatness.

Over the years, Williamson has been a fine IPL player. He has remained in the shadows of David Warner and had to warm benches for the majority of the tournament when SRH won the title for the first and the only time to date in 2016 under the leadership of David Warner. 

Following Warner’s suspension from the 2018 IPL, Williamson was given the captaincy duties and he didn’t disappoint. Hyderabad finished at the top of the points table and qualified for the final which they lost against the Chennai Super Kings owing to the sheer dominance and power hitting of Shane Watson. He also finished as the highest run-getter, thus bagging the Orange Cap for scoring 735 runs in 17 matches.