Williamson: I should be fit in time for opener

Dubai: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on Thursday said that he is not too concerned with his elbow injury and he should be fit in time for the Kiwis’ opening game in the T20 World Cup.

He also gave an update on his elbow, saying it is still not 100 per cent yet. The elbow has been a long worry for Williamson, forcing him to miss the ODI series at home against Bangladesh, the start of the first leg of IPL 2021 in India and the Edgbaston Test against England.

“The hamstring is minor, it’s progressing nicely, so not too many concerns and we’ve still got plenty of time. So, yeah, hopefully in the next sort of few days or so, I’m taking basically full part in the training. So, it’s all good,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Williamson as saying.

“The elbow - it has just been a bit of a slow-burner. Yeah, it has been quite frustrating for a long period of time. However, it has definitely improved a bit over the last two months I’ve had after the World Test Championship. On rehab, it has definitely seemed to move forward, which is refreshing, but still a little bit of time to get back to a 100 per cent, but it’s definitely better,” he added.

Further talking about his elbow, Williamson said: “Basically just gripping and then extending. So, which you do a lot of obviously (while) batting and it has been frustrating certainly when it was at its worst. But the harder you grip and further you extend, the more it seems to be quite disruptive.” “

Like I said there’s been a lot of improvement over the last three months, which is good. That has really been the focus and I’m at the stage where I’m largely about to get through with some comfort and it’s nice to be able to focus a bit more on the cricketing side of things rather than having constant negotiations with physios,” he added.

New Zealand will open its T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 26.