They say that captaincy does things to you, particularly when you have taken your team to almost unscalable heights and from there begins the descent. No one would remember what you have racked up as the leader of the tribe but every one would remember the potholes, where the wheels got stuck and how you as a skipper couldn’t get them out. Kane Williamson found himself rooted in a challenge like that as New Zealand had a disastrous outing under his reign in the past year and things would barely go right for the man himself.
Kane’s IPL days weren’t particularly great either as Sunrisers Hyderabad would drift in and out of form with barely any surfaces to scratch despite a brief revival in the middle where the team won a handful of consecutive games only to be shown the downside again towards the latter stages. With so much going through his minds, he chose to take a back-step, give it a proper thought and accordingly twist and turn the screws. For this year, he will be with the likes of the defending IPL Champions, Gujarat Titans, hoping to find his song again.
Here is why Kane Williamson capitulated the Test captaincy
Talking about his decision to relinquish Test captaincy, Kane said, “My cricketing brain certainly hasn’t been switched off. When you’re out on the field, you’re trying to do as much as you can for the team. Whether that’s assisting where you can when you’re called upon for your ideas or otherwise.”
He further added, “It’s quite a natural thing to be engaged in the game but having said that it [the decision to step down as Test captain] has taken a little bit off my plate, which was a large part of the reason for making that decision. Often, it’s the parts around it [captaincy], where you get a little bit more time back. I’ve always thought it was never a ‘forever job’, it requires a lot of energy, and I really enjoyed my time in that specific role. I do enjoy being involved in leadership, which is basically helping where I can.”
Here is how things have panned out after the captaincy has come off his shoulder
Talking about the change in his workload, he said, “Less commitments off the field” has come as a relief. “It’s been a really enjoyable thing in terms of playing under Tim Southee, who is captaining the Test team and doing a great job. Having said that, there’s transition involved [of going from captain to just a player] without a doubt, there’s perhaps less commitments off the field.”
He finally opened up on his Gujarat stint, adding, “It’s still a change, something that I’m experiencing at the moment and working through. I’m fortunate to have a number of leaders in the New Zealand environment. And then to come here and have Hardik [Pandya] captaining the side, it’s something I’m excited about as well.” Kane also clarified about his injuries, adding, “Yeah, it was something that was improving slowly all the time, it was requiring management. It’s a lot better now and it’s not something that is restricting me in terms of training loads, playing and all those things. Although no injury is ideal and often injuries require time to heal, working through this was no different. It’s nice to be back playing, training and not be burdened by it.”
