The exclusion of New Zealand cricket team captain and former Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson from their opening match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday night in the 14th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) raised many eyebrows, as it highlighted the fact that even the best in the world can be left out from playing levels in order to ensure the balance.
Williamson warmed the bench as Sunrisers Hyderabad took the field in their first IPL 2021 match, and could not go on to clinch a desired result in the form of a victory. Kolkata Knight Riders emerged winners by 10 runs as SRH seemed to have missed one of their best batsmen in their ranks, Williamson, who was believed to be left out from the playing XI.
But as it turned out post match, SRH were not in a position to make Williamson play in the opening match as the Kiwi skipper is not fully fit to take the field, revealed their head coach Trevor Bayliss.
Bayliss said had Williamson been fit, he would have played in place of Jonny Bairstow.
“We just felt that Kane needed a little bit of extra time to get match fit and a little bit more time in the nets. He would have played in place of Jonny Bairstow obviously if that had occurred. But we aren’t too perturbed about that, Jonny has been in form recently in white-ball cricket here in India. Kane will obviously come into calculations as the tournament unfolds.”
Williamson has been a key player for Sunrisers Hyderabad over a number of years. When David Warner, the regular captain was banned for a year from international cricket in 2018, Williamson did not only step up to lead the Hyderabad-based franchisee but also led them into the final wherein they lost to Chennai Super Kings.