"I hope GT give him the role where he gets the license" - Former NZ coach Glenn Pocknall on Kane Williamson
Former New Zealand coach Glenn Pocknall is looking forward to seeing Kane Williamson's role in the Gujarat Titans (GT) for the IPL 2023 season. The defending IPL champions snapped up the New Zealand star for just INR 2 crore and this raised quite a few eyebrows due to his poor form in IPL 2022.
The then-captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad scored just 216 runs at an appalling strike rate of 93.51 and a modest average of just 19.64. He was released by the Sunrisers and many felt he would go unsold in the auction.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Glenn Pocknall shed light on what exactly Kane Williamson can do in T20 cricket once he gets the freedom to play his natural game. He said:
"I think it depends on what role they (GT) give him (Williamson). A lot of teams that he has played in, he has got the role of being the batter that others bat around and I think that has been a detriment to his strike rate. But he can hit the ball 360 degrees and he can play lovely cricket shots. So I hope they give him a role where he gets a license and a chance to showcase his ability to hit all around the ground. So hopefully we get to see him produce some of those match-winning innings in the T20 format as we know."
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Kane Williamson stepping down from Test captaincy helping his batting: Glenn Pocknall
Kane Williamson has been in sensational form of late as he has scored three hundreds in his last three Tests, helping the Kiwis win all these games. His double hundred against Sri Lanka was just one example of him returning to his vintage best.
On being asked whether giving up the Test captaincy has helped Williamson get back to his best, Pocknall stated:
"From looking in from the outside, you feel that it has helped him (Williamson stepping down from Test captaincy) and has freed up his game. Mentally, he can just focus on batting in this format, which is what he does best. Scoring three centuries in the last three Tests is a testament to that and generally Blackcaps have done well whenever he has done well and that’s seen in the past three Tests, so long may it continue."
Kane Williamson could replace Matthew Wade at No.3 for GT right from the opening game of IPL 2023 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on March 31.