Kane Williamson wants to continue in all formats despite yet another World Cup debacle
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has no plans to give up any format of the game despite losing a chance to lift the T20 World Cup title for the second consecutive year.
Williamson's place in the T20 squad will come under review after the right-hander looked far from fluent in the ongoing showpiece, as New Zealand returned empty-handed from a fifth successive white-ball World Cup, despite making the semifinals in all of them.
"Yeah, I certainly love playing in all the formats. There's a lot of cricket, and so that needs to be managed a little bit," the 32-year-old said after New Zealand's seven-wicket loss to Pakistan in the first semifinal in Sydney on Wednesday.
"It's a changing landscape with players all around the world at the moment, and we've seen it in our camp, as well."
"After these sorts of events you sort of sit down and give yourself a chance to reflect and sort of look at what's coming up," he added.
New Zealand were on course of entering a second straight T20 World Cup final before Pakistan dashed their dreams. In the last edition in the UAE, the Kiwis lost to Australia in the title clash.
New Zealand also reached the final of the last two ODI World Cups in 2015 and 2019 but fell short.
"Yeah, to me it's about the game, the performance, and that's certainly what we look at. That's the frustrating thing for me today (Wednesday). If you get beaten playing your best cricket, then you certainly have to accept that," Williamson said.
Asked about New Zealand's continuous failure in the title clash of a World Cup, he said, "We've played in a number of different finals and put out really good performances, probably good enough to win, and either got met by a side that's played a little bit better or a side that's played about equal, you know, however it looks."
"The picture is big. You play a number of tournaments. Yeah, you want to win some, but you finish a tournament, you certainly just start focusing on the next one."
"To me it comes down to the cricket, and that's where we put our focus. The environment, how well we're tracking, and there's been a lot of good stuff. The journey was good, a lot of good cricket, but you've got to continue as you go into the business end."
New Zealand are set to host India for a white-ball series, consisting three T20Is followed by as many ODIs, beginning on November 18 at Wellington.
"It keeps rolling on and we've got games pretty quickly after this. These experiences are fantastic. Obviously you want to keep being on the right side of results, but having said that, there's a number of younger players, older players sort of thing, and it evolves, these sorts of tournaments," Williamson said.
"So everybody takes a little bit into the team. When you're put in these sorts of positions again, you sort of can reflect back and try and do it a little bit better. There will be some reflection. It's still raw," he concluded.
