Why is Kane Williamson not playing today’s 2nd Test between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge?

Why is Kane Williamson not playing: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is not playing the 2nd test against England.

England and New Zealand are up against each other in the 2nd match of the three-match test series. England won the toss and opted to bowl first. Jack Leach is back in the playing eleven after missing the last game due to a concussion.

“Generally here the wicket gets better as the game goes on, get them in early and get Jimmy and Broady going with the new ball,” Ben Stokes said at the toss.

The Blackcaps are missing the services of Kane Williamson, and Tom Latham is the stand-in captain of the side. New Zealand made two changes, whereas Michael Bracewell and Matt Henry came in for Kane Williamson and Ajaz Patel.

Why is Kane Williamson not playing

New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson is missing the 2nd test against England after being tested Covid positive on the match eve. Williamson will now go into isolation for five days. He was showing mild symptoms and was later tested Covid positive.

“It’s such a shame for Kane to be forced to withdraw on the eve of such an important match,” Gary Stead, New Zealand’s head coach, said.

“We’re all feeling for him at this time and know-how disappointed he will be.”

Kane Williamson missed the whole New Zealand summer due to his elbow injury. He made his comeback in the Indian Premier League 2022 for Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he struggled a lot. Williamson scored just 216 runs in IPL 2022 at a dreadful average of 19.63, whereas he had a nominal strike-rate of 93.50.

The loss of Kane Williamson is a very big loss for the side and the team is already missing the services of all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme. In tests, Kane Williamson has scored 7289 runs at an incredible average of 52.81, courtesy of 24 centuries and 33 half-centuries.