Kane Williamson ruled out of 2nd Test against India, continues rehab for groin strain

New Zealand batter Kane Williamson will miss the second Test against India, which will kickstart from Thursday in Pune as he continues his rehab from a groin strain. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) took to Instagram and issued a statement, saying, "Squad News | Kane Williamson will not be available for the BLACKCAPS second Test match against India, as he continues his rehabilitation from a groin strain."

Williamson suffered the injury during the recently-concluded two-match Test series against Sri Lanka and missed the first Test against India at Bengaluru, which the Kiwis won by eight wickets, securing their first win in India in 36 years. NZ head coach Gary Stead said that while Williamson was making progress, he was not yet ready to return to Test cricket.

"We are monitoring Kane and he is tracking in the right direction, but is not yet 100 per cent fit," said Stead. "We are hopeful to see further improvement over the coming days and have him available for the third Test," added the coach. Against India in 37 Tests, Kane has scored 871 runs at an average of 37.86, with two centuries and five fifties in 24 innings, with his best score being 131.

Contributions from Rachin Ravindra, Matt Henry and William O'Rourke shined in their eight-wicket win over India at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswammy Stadium, their first on Indian soil since 1988. In the Test, fine spells from Henry (5/15) and O'Rourke (4/22) skittled out India for just 46 runs after they elected to bat first. Later. contributions from Rachin (134), Devon Conway (91) and Tim Southee (65) took the Kiwis to 402/10, giving them a 356-run lead.

Fine knocks from skipper Rohit Sharma (52), Virat Kohli (70), Sarfaraz Khan (150) and Rishabh Pant (99) took India to 462/10, giving them a 106-run lead. A collapse after the introduction of the new ball prevented India from getting a much bigger lead. Kiwis chased down the total comprehensively with eight wickets in hand. Rachin won the 'Player of the Match' award. (ANI)