Kane Williamson said that he was surprised as well as humbled at having achieved the feat while reacting to becoming the No.1 ranked Test batsman as per the latest ICC Test rankings.
The New Zealand skipper went past two other modern-day legends, contemporary batsmen Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to end 2020 on top of the Test rankings.
Kane Williamson: It’s About Trying To Do As Much As One Can For Team’s Cause
In a video interview to ICC, Kane Williamson lavished praised on both his contemporaries Virat Kohli and Steve Smith who have performed extraordinarily across all formats, describing them as ‘the best’.
He stated: “Those two players (Kohli and Smith) are the best. For me to sneak up in some way is very surprising and humbling. Year in and year out, those two players in all formats are moving the game forward. Real fortunate to be playing against these guys.”
Speaking about the path he took to reach the top, Kane Williamson played down the achievement and instead put it down to the effort of the entire team.
“It’s very much (about) trying to do as much as you can for the team. I do see some of those individual rankings driven by efforts of so many other players or the XI that we want go to in (with). If you can be contributing as much as you can, and it can be reflected on the rankings, that’s really cool. (Our) team is driven to move each other forward and give to one another, ” added Kane Williamson.
New Zealand have accumulated 360 points winning 6 matches out of 10. They are third after Australia and India but the trio have a chance to claim top spot based on performance in the remaining matches. Kane Williamson has scored 6877 runs in 82 matches averaging 52.9 with 23 tons to his name.
Kane Williamson: Aim Is To Build Partnerships On Sporting Wickets In New Zealand
Kane Williamson also said that playing on some of the wickets in New Zealand was a challenge for the batsmen, as the ball can do a lot. He stated that the luck factor does come into consideration, admitting that things had gone his way over the last few Tests. New Zealand have won the last 5 Tests against India (2), West Indies (2) and Pakistan (1).
“On some of those wickets that are doing a bit, you are going to get some good balls and hopefully if things go your way… So it was nice as that was the case. (The aim is) to build partnerships with your mate at the other end. It has been most satisfying working hard together and we have seen a number of really valuable partnerships throughout those last few Tests on wickets that have been sporting,” he concluded.
Kane Williamson hit 129 off 297 balls with 12 fours and a six and 21 in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan to go on top of the ICC Test rankings. The 30-year-old was named man of the match as New Zealand eventually ended Pakistan’s stubborn resistance in the second innings, winning the Test by 101 runs.