Kane Williamson - The Most Complete Batsman Of This Era
Australia, England and India are the cricketing giants of the world. Fans all over the world rush to the stadiums and get glued to their digital screens when these teams play. Steve Smith, Joe Root and Virat Kohli are the faces of these respective cricket giants. These players are loved and admired by fans all over. Every run they score is celebrated and every hard-earned victory that they give their teams is etched in the fans hearts.
One player, who is not as much celebrated but goes about his business equally good is Kane Williamson. New Zealand have always been the underdog team in cricket. The players don't carry that aura and glamour that makes the fans go crazy around them. Their celebrations are minimal, no-cuss words filled. They accept victory and defeat with a smile and are the perfect example of why cricket is called ' A Gentleman's Game'.
Kane Williamson, the leader, the face of NZC, is much like how his team plays cricket- No fuss, does the job and takes victory and defeat with a smile.
Steve Smith, Joe Root and Virat Kohli have struggled to play a certain bowling at least once in their career. Steve Smith and Virat Kohli struggled in the swinging conditions of England while Joe Root struggled against the spinners.
Kane Williamson has never had a certain weakness against any type of bowling throughout his career. Right from his debut Test match at Ahmedabad against India, he has always looked comfortable against any kind of bowling attack.
Kane Williamson has a classic text-book technique that helps him to play any kind of bowling with ease. Growing up in the swinging conditions of New Zealand made him a naturally strong player against swing, the skills, which he exhibits time and again while playing those utmost late shots.
Williamson's repertoire of shots like the sweep, the late cut and a strong defence technique make him an equally good spin player and his quick on-the-toe feet movement helps him tackle the fast and bouncy conditions of Australia and South Africa.
Here are his stats in Test Matches in Australia, England, India and South Africa. These stats are a proof of his ability to play on any surface.
1.Australia:
Mat II Inns II NO II Runs II HS II Ave II BF II SR II 100 II 50 II 4s II 6s
5 II 10 II 1 II 500 II 166 II 55.55 II 766 II 65.27 II 2 II 1 II 68 II 0
He scored a 140 at Brisbane in the first innings of a Test match when all the other batsmen failed to score a fifty. His highest score in Australia, 166 was scored at a time when he came to the crease at 87/2 with Australia putting up a daunting 559 runs in their first innings.
The runs came against the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and an in-form Mitchell Starc, who clocked 160kph in the match at WACA
2.England:
Mat II Inns II NO II Runs II HS II Ave II BF II SR II 100 II 50 II 4s II 6s
4 II 8 II 0 II 247 II 132 II 30.87 II 618 II 39.96 II 1 II 1 II 26 II 0
His first tour to England was an unproductive one with only 82 runs from 4 innings at 2 at an average of 20.50 with one fifty. His second one in 2015 was an impressive one that also included a century on a second-day pitch at Lord's.
3.India:
Mat II Inns II NO II Runs II HS II Ave II BF II SR II 100 II 50 II 4s II 6s
7 II 13 II 0 II 461 II 131 II 35.46 II 1075 II 42.88 II 1 II 3 II 46 II 0
Right from when he made his Test debut as a 20-year old in India, his technique against spin was evident as he looked comfortable against the Indian spinners: Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh.
His classical cover drives, the traditional sweep and the late cut against the spinners are a treat to watch for any cricket fan.
4.South Africa:
Mat II Inns II NO II Runs II HS II Ave II BF II SR II 100 II 50 II 4s II 6s
4 II 7 II 1 II 127 II 77 II 21.16 II 262 II 48.47 II 0 II 1 II 15 II 1
South Africa remains the only country where Kane Williamson has played Test cricket and not reached the three-figure mark. But the 77 that he got at Centurion was one of the highest quality that came when Steyn-Philander-Rabada were wreaking havoc at the other end.
Only four batsmen breached the two-figure mark while none other than Kane breached 40 runs. However, Williamson has got an ODI century in South Africa, at Kimberley in 2013.
He has a 192 in the dust bowl of Sharjah against Pakistan and a 135 at Colombo in a match in which Rangana Herath took a 6-fer. His 161* in the 3rd innings of a Test match vs West Indies at Bridgetown in 2014 helped New Zealand script a memorable victory.
In Test match series' that included 3 or more games, Kane Williamson averaged less than 50 only once. It was when he averaged 42.40 in his debut Test series, against India.
All these Test match stats and his old-book batting technique do not make him a one-dimensional player, only suited for Tests. In 121 ODI innings, he averages 46 with a healthy strike rate of 83. His record includes 11 centuries, 13 half-centuries, and a career-best score of 145*.
In T20Is he averages an efficient 31.64 at a strike rate of 121 after having scored 1424 runs in 52 innings .
Kane Williamson's Overall Stats In Each Format:
Tests:
Mat II Inns II NO II Runs II HS II Ave II BF II SR II 100 II 50 II 0 II 4s II 6s
65 II 116 II 10 II 5338 II 242* II 50.35 II 10590 II 50.40 II 18 II 26 II 7 II 585 II 13
ODIs:
Mat II Inns II NO II Runs II HS II Ave II BF II SR II 100 II 50 II 0 II 4s II 6s
127 II 121 II 11 II 5156 II 145* II 46.87 II 6195 II 83.22 II 11 II 33 II 5 II 474 II 43
T20I:
Mat II Inns II NO II Runs II HS II Ave II BF II SR II 100 II 50 II 0 II 4s II 6s
54 II 52 II 7 II 1424 II 73* II 31.64 II 1176 II 121.08 II 0 II 9 II 2 II 152 II 23
For people to keep any player in their minds, they need to see them play regularly. One thing that goes against Kane Williamson not being as famous or as celebrated as his counterparts, is the number of matches that he plays because New Zealand plays a lot less cricket when compared to Australia, England, India and South Africa.
Since World Cup 2015, of the top 8 ODI teams (The teams that played Champions Trophy'17), only Bangladesh have played less international matches than New Zealand. New Zealand have played 125 international matches since the end of WC'15, while each of England, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have played more than 145 matches.
The fact that New Zealand are playing their first international series now in UAE against Pakistan since England's tour of New Zealand that ended on 26th March 2018, says how less international cricket New Zealand have played in the current year.
While Kane Williamson may not instil fear in the opposition camp like Steve Smith or Virat Kohli, but the runs that he scores on a consistent basis and his inspiring captaincy that help New Zealand end up victorious, are no less in value than of a Virat or Smith.
He might have not got those big hundreds on a regular basis, but his consistent run getting ability in any sort of condition makes him one of the most complete batsmen, if not the most complete batsmen of this generation, and makes him stand tall alongside the most consistent batsmen right now- Virat Kohli.