The New Zealand captain landed awkwardly during the IPL opener between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings, and the severity of the injury looks set to end his hopes of leading his side at the World Cup in India
Kane Williamson is set to miss this year's World Cup in India after a right knee injury suffered at the IPL was confirmed as a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
New Zealand's ODI captain felt his knee buckle from underneath him after he landed awkwardly while attempting to take a boundary catch in the opening game of the tournament.
Playing for Gujarat Titans, he managed to throw the ball back into play after completing the first part of the fielding effort at deep square leg, but he fell on the outside of the playing area, clutching his knee.
He is set to undergo surgery once the swelling around his knee has gone down.
"Naturally it's disappointing to get such an injury, but my focus now is on having the surgery and starting rehab," he said. "It's going to take some time, but I'll be doing everything I can to get back on the field as soon as possible."
Williamson is set to miss out on the chance of leading his country to a third straight World Cup final (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Tom Latham has emerged as an alternative captain to Williamson in ODI cricket recently, and it seems likely that he will take the reins going forward, but it is a blow of an enormous magnitude – both for New Zealand's chances and for the wider game to be without the batter named as player off the tournament at the 50-over World Cup in 2019.
He averages 47.8 in ODI cricket, with 13 hundreds to his name, and has reached the last two finals.
"You take Kane the player for a start, but then Kane the leader and the person he is within our group as well, it's a huge spanner in the works for us," added New Zealand coach Gary Stead.
"We haven't given up hope that he might be right but at this stage it does look unlikely. Our first thoughts are with Kane at the moment, it's a tough time for him, it's not an injury you expect… it hits you pretty hard."
Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on everything England - including leading coverage of England in India, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.