'Surgery definitely required' - Mike Hesson on New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson's elbow injury

According to former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson, surgery is the only way out for skipper Kane Williamson, who is facing trouble due to his elbow injury. Owing to this injury, the batter missed several crucial games both for the country as well as for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Williamson did not play the second and the final Test match against India at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. His persistent elbow injury ruled him out of the game with Tom Latham taking up the captaincy responsibilities for the Mumbai Test. However, Williamson had also struggled during the training ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE.

He then also missed the three-match T20I series against India. The swashbuckling batter’s absence was felt by the visitors as they lost the second Test match by a massive margin. Hesson, thus, stated that things have reached that point wherein it is necessary for Williamson to undergo surgery to come back completely fit.

“I think it’s got to the point where surgery is definitely required… I’m sure Kane will be the most frustrated of anybody. The fact he’s given it a huge amount of rest and it hasn’t recovered; he’s missed cricket throughout the last 18 months. Initially, he had a hip issue, but this elbow has been going on for a long time. I think he’s got to choose a window, got to bite the bullet, get the operation done, and then hopefully come back fully fit,” Mike Hesson told SENZ’s Mornings with former Kiwi cricketer Ian Smith.

We weren’t able to apply any pressure from a batting point of view: Mike Hesson

Opening up on New Zealand’s dismaying defeat against India in the Mumbai Test, Hesson reckoned that the batting unit wasn’t able to put enough pressure and that left the team in a spot of bother.

“We just couldn’t control the run rate in the first innings with the ball. We were poor, no doubt about that, we didn’t have a defensive option and weren’t able to apply any pressure from a batting point of view. So that left us in a pretty precarious position,” he said.