New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will play his first match of the World Cup against Bangladesh today but fast bowler Tim Southee will continue on the sidelines, the 33-year-old batter said on Thursday.
Williamson missed their wins over defending champions England and the Netherlands to continue his rehabilitation from a knee injury he suffered in March that required surgery.
Experienced fast bowler Southee has been recovering following surgery on his fractured right thumb.
“Tim’s progressing well, but won’t be playing tomorrow’s game,” Williamson, who led his team to the final of the 2019 edition of the tournament, told reporters.
“As for my recovery, it’s been quite a journey but largely a good one.
“...really excited to be named in the World Cup squad, be sitting here now and really excited at the prospect of tomorrow, which is another big challenge for us.”
New Zealand fell agonisingly short of winning the title in 2019 when England were declared winners via the boundary countback rule after the heart-stopping final at the Lord’s had ended in a tie.
Looking at their next match, Williamson said New Zealand could not afford to underestimate Bangladesh especially at a spin-friendly venue like Chennai.
“We come into this tournament knowing that anybody can beat anybody. That makes a really exciting event I think and the conditions are always going to change,” he said.
“I think both teams have some good spin bowlers that no doubt will play a big part tomorrow.”
Williamson said the legacy of the All Blacks inspires New Zealand’s cricketers . New Zealand have won their opening two matches in India in the absence of their skipper, who injured his knee while playing in the Indian Premier League in late March.
“It’s been quite a journey but largely a good one that’s had some really good progress and you know I’ve said a number of times, really excited to be named in the World Cup squad, be sitting here now and really excited at the prospect of tomorrow,” he said on Thursday.
The Black Caps have never won the World Cup, though they came agonisingly close in 2019, beaten by an England team who had scored more boundaries in the match.
That contrasts with the All Blacks, who have won the Rugby World Cup three times and play Ireland in the quarter-finals in France tomorrow.
Williamson, 33, was asked whether that legacy of success inspired his men.
“We love the All Blacks,” he said. “You know, coming from New Zealand obviously rugby is our number one game and so I think everybody in the squad is pretty passionate about rugby and following their journey at the moment at the World Cup and the success that they’ve had.
“For us, we’ve had some really enjoyable times recently and got pretty close, but you still have to start again. And there’s been some good performances so far.”
He added: “We’re here as a cricket team but I think something that you do hear often about their side is their culture, their environment, and their ability to keep moving forward as a team and adapting to what’s in front of them, whether that’s the movement of the game and how that keeps changing and evolving.
“They keep doing really well at staying ahead of that curve. We just want to keep getting better as a side, keep growing as a side and that’s our focus.”
Williamson is a key batsman for New Zealand, amassing 6,554 runs in one-day international cricket
at an impressive average of nearly 48.
He said his return had involved a “series of really small steps”, admitting there were doubts over whether he would be fit to play any part in the tournament although he did feature in the pre-event warm-up schedule.
“To be honest, it was probably a good thing just to get my head stuck into rehab each day and not sort of rush it and that was really my focus,” he said.
“And I was fortunate as well I had a really, really good team around me back home and also fortunate not to have a lot of setbacks during that time, so there were lots of little steps forward which I guess accumulate to being here now really.”
Bangladesh will hope that their spinners play a major role against at Chepauk today.
Bangladesh’s big defeat against England undid a lot of their good work against Afghanistan in the first match.
The pitch certainly differed between the two games in Dharamsala, but Bangladesh didn’t really adapt to the conditions. Their insistence on bowling outside off stump hurt them as they went wicketless going for that bowling line.
Taskin Ahmed bowling just six overs, Shakib Al Hasan finishing his ten early and the overuse of offspin against left-handers were the sort of rigid tactics that Bangladesh will not want to repeat.

SQUADS
Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Kumer Das, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto (vc), Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.

New Zealand
Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.

Head-to-head record
Last 10 meetings
DATE VENUE RESULT
13/02/2019 Napier New Zealand won by 8 wickets
16/02/2019 Christchurch New Zealand won by 8 wickets
20/02/2019 Dunedin New Zealand won by 88 runs
05/06/2019 The Oval, London New Zealand won by 2 wickets
20/03/2021 Dunedin New Zealand won by 8 wickets
23/03/2021 Christchurch New Zealand won by 5 wickets
26/03/2021 Wellington New Zealand won by 164 runs
21/09/2023 Dhaka No Result
23/09/2023 Dhaka New Zealand won by 86 runs
26/09/2023 Dhaka New Zealand won by 7 wickets
OverallNew Zealand wins: Bangladesh wins: Tied: 0
No result: 1