New Zealand pacer Tim Southee and regular captain Kane Williamson is set to miss out on the ICC World Cup 2023 opening match between New Zealand and England which will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5, 2023.
Tim Southee was named in New Zealand’s final 15-member World Cup squad despite breaking a bone in his right thumb during the England ODI series recently. He underwent surgery to rectify the issue and it was revealed that the doctors had to “chuck in some screws and a plate” to boost his chances of playing in the 50-over showpiece event.
Not only him, but Kane Williamson, who returned to competitive cricket since injuring his knee during IPL 2023 and then undergoing surgery, in the recent warm-up matches, will also not play in the opening match. Williamson played the team’s first warm-up purely as a batsman and then fielded as well in the second warm-up, but Southee still awaits his first outing in India.
This was confirmed by vice-captain Tom Latham, who will lead New Zealand on October 5.
“No Kane and no Tim as well. He (Southee) is unavailable for selection. He is recovering nicely, it has been nearly two weeks post-surgery, so fingers crossed he keeps recovering. It’s a bit of a day-by-day process. But fingers crossed he’ll be available sooner rather than later as well,” Latham told reporters, quoted by AFP.
‘We Can Beat Anyone’- Tom Latham
The Kiwis are still hunting for their first World Cup title after making eight semi-final appearances in 12 editions. They come into the tournament as the underdogs, with most pundits handing the favorites tag to either India or England.
“We are not focused on what people are predicting; from our point of view we are solely focused on what we have to do. If we can play our brand of cricket in these conditions — which is pretty different to the last two ODI World Cups, in Australia and England. If we play to the best of our ability then we are hard to beat on the day,” Latham added.
Latham said the team is “excited” to open the World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium, which has a capacity of 132,000.
