New Zealand coach Gary Stead is "very confident" of Kane Williamson returning to action for the first Test of their home summer, against England, which will be played at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch from November 28 to December 2.
The New Zealand team management didn't want to run the risk of rushing Williamson back into action for the Mumbai Test, which will begin on Friday, and will continue to adopt a cautious approach with his rehab. Williamson, 34, had suffered a groin injury on the tour of Sri Lanka last month, just before the start of the three-match Test series in India.
"Yeah, very confident," Stead said of Williamson's availability for the first Test against England. "I mean at a push we could have got him over here [in India] immediately, but considering I guess the travel factor and making sure that you can actually recover properly when you get here, we didn't feel though that was worth the risk. So we're happy with having him ready and very, very confident he'll be right for that first Test versus England."
Despite the absence of Williamson for the entire series in India, New Zealand found a way to win their first-ever Test series in the country. Will Young, slotted into Williamson's No.3 spot, stood up to the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin in contrasting conditions in Bengaluru and Pune.
"Look, it's always disappointing when he's not over here with us," Stead said of Williamson. "I mean, he's New Zealand's greatest Test run-scorer for a reason, and I think whenever you have Kane in your side, it looks a stronger side. But the guys have gone really well.
"We've adapted well without him here. The best thing for Kane is just to get himself completely right for England and we're certainly looking forward to him coming back and hopefully making a difference in that Test series over there for us."
Ben Sears likely to miss England Test series with injury
Tearaway quick Ben Sears, however, is set to miss the three-match Test series against England though Stead is hopeful of having him fit for the latter part of the home summer. Sears had also been sidelined from the entire Test series in India, with a knee injury. The 26-year-old had experienced pain in his left knee, while training in the lead-up to the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka, and underwent a minor surgery on it on Wednesday.
"Unlikely to be available for the England Test series," Stead said of Sears. "Ben is going in for a small surgery today and just on his knee. Hopefully then he'll be able to recover in the near future. I'm very hopeful he'll be part of the summer.
"It's not a big operation - he just needs a little bit of tidy up on his knee - so like hopefully by Christmas or so he'll be back up and running again."
On his Test debut in Christchurch in March earlier this year, Sears took a match haul of five wickets against Australia and pushed himself into contention for the following six-Test tour of the subcontinent. Sears tuned up for the challenge with a four-day preparatory camp at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai before the injury relegated him to the sidelines.
Sears' absence could open up a potential Test debut for his Wellington team-mate Nathan Smith, who was added to New Zealand's central contracts list in September. Smith, a bowling allrounder, was the top wicket-taker in the 2023-24 Plunket Shield, with 33 strikes in seven matches at an average of 17.18. He also had a stint with Worcestershire during the recent county season.
Stead hopes for a repeat of WTC 2021
New Zealand's stunning takedown of India in Bengaluru and Pune has them dreaming of making the World Test Championship (WTC) final. If they win each of their four remaining Tests, they will finish on 64.29%. It won't ensure qualification, but it will certainly keep them in the mix. Stead took heart from the inaugural cycle of the WTC in 2019-21, when New Zealand won six in a row on their way to securing the title.
"Yeah I mean a series win in itself is incredible but what we want to do is keep trying to get better every game and we're going to different circumstances now - the red clay [in Mumbai] is very different," Stead said. "The way that it performs is different, so we're going to have to adapt quickly and our next two trainings are going to be important, but for the World Test Championship itself there's no doubt that one more win here would certainly help us.
"I remember the first time we were in the situation of qualifying for the first WTC, we had to win four Tests on the bounce and managed to. So, hopefully there's some sort of similes to that that we can lean on and say, 'Well, we've done it before, here's an opportunity to perhaps do something very special again'."