Williamson Quits Test Captaincy: New Zealand’s star batter and greatest leader of all time, Kane Williamson quits the captaincy in Test matches. But he will be the skipper for the one-day international format and T20 international matches of the Black Caps side.
Williamson took over the captaincy responsibility from the current head coach of England, Brendon McCullum in 2016.
New Zealand had a great run in the red ball format. The Kiwis reached the number one rankings in the Test matches in 2021. They also won the first season of the World Test Championship that year, which was their only ICC title win.
Overall Williamson had captained New Zealand in 38 Test matches and the Kiwis won 22 of them.
Kane Williamson is a terrific batter for New Zealand in all three formats and he was a superb captain of the red ball format.
The New Zealand Cricket Board has announced Tim Southee as their new captain in the red ball format. But this series will be a huge challenge for him and his team.
New Zealand will tour Pakistan for two matches in the red ball format and they will also play the three-match one-day international games.
Kane Williamson will lead the fifty-overs series with an eye to the ICC World Cup in 2023. While Tim Southee will captain the Kiwis side in the two-match Test series.
New Zealand hasn't had a great run in the Asia sub-continent countries. So this two-match Test series will be a task cut out for Southee and co.
The first Test match will start on the Boxing Day Test match on 26th December and it will go on till 30 December 2022 at National Stadium in Karachi.
The second and final test match of this series will be played in Multan from 3rd January 2023 to 7th January 2023.
Kane Williamson said that test cricket is like a pinnacle of the game and he was greatly honoured to lead the New Zealand team in the red ball format.
He decided to quit the Test captaincy because of the workload management. Williamson and the New Zealand Cricket Board (ZLC) took a joint decision that Kane Williamson stays as the white ball format captain, especially when two world cups tournament are around the corner in 2023 and 2024.
The CEO and the coach of the New Zealand team have praised Kane Williamson for doing well in the longest and the toughest red ball format.
The New Zealand Cricket Board will ensure that Kane Williamson will enjoy his game and they would like Williamson to play as long as possible because his experience, class and calibre will surely benefit the Black Caps team.
Tom Latham is now named as the full-time vice-captain of the test team of the Black Caps side. Southee and Latham are used to such responsibilities as they were appointed the leaders of the team when Kane Williamson was not available or injured.
As mentioned above, New Zealand will also play three one-day international matches on this tour to Pakistan. The three fifty-over games will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi and Kane Williamson will lead the side in this ODI series. The ODIs will be played on the 10th, 12th and 14th of January 2023.
