Importance of clarity in our playing style: Williamson

Greater Noida: Kane Williamson, renowned for his exceptional career in Test cricket spanning over a century of matches, boasts an impressive record with minimal flaws. However, upon closer examination, his performances in India and Sri Lanka do not quite align with his stellar overall numbers, which position him as one of the top batters of his generation and New Zealand's finest. Despite scoring a century on debut in Ahmedabad, his average in India stands at 33.53 after eight Tests. In Sri Lanka, this average decreases slightly to 26.71.

These numbers are particularly relevant now, for Williamson has a shot at course correction with six Tests lined up in these two countries over the next two months. There’s a one-off Test against Afghanistan here from Monday, followed by two Tests in Sri Lanka and three Tests against India from October 16 to November 5.

Historically, spin-friendly surfaces in the subcontinent have posed problems for New Zealand — they haven’t won a Test in India since 1988 that was sealed by Richard Hadlee’s 10-for. Williamson is fully aware of the challenge confronting the entire unit.

“We’re absolutely going to be challenged in a number of ways, but it’s important for us as a team to look to grow throughout, pick up the experiences that we’re going to have over the next two-and-a-half months and be better for it. We need to get nice and clear on how we want to play over here. It’s an exciting opportunity. We are looking forward to getting more familiar with these conditions and looking to put together our best cricket,” Williamson, who’s no longer New Zealand’s Test captain, told reporters after a training session on Saturday.

Having toured the subcontinent several times, the 34-year-old laid emphasis on the players needing to alter their game plans for these conditions. “It’s absolutely about trying to adjust your game because we’re not here consistently in this format and there are quite long intervals of not playing here. So, it is about trying to familiarise yourself again and for us our last Test was 6-8 months ago. It’s about looking to apply our skills and our plans as well as we can.”

As part of what is known as the Fab Four, alongside Joe Root, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, Williamson has been the epitome of batting excellence over the past decade. Right now, Root is in red-hot form, even raising the possibility of eventually eclipsing Sachin Tendulkar’s record tally of 15,921 Test runs. Does Williamson get motivated by how his great contemporaries fare?

“Not really,” Williamson replied. “You mentioned Root, he’s just been something else for a period of time, and obviously a lot of the discussion around what he might be able to achieve in a number of years... it’s just incredible that conversation can even be had. So yeah, he has been phenomenal, and I have enjoyed watching not just him but obviously those other guys that you mentioned. Amazing players that have all sort of moved the game forward in a big way.”