Mount Maunganui, Nov 15 (IANS) Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson was among the spectators at the Bay Oval on Sunday for the ongoing ODI series decider between India and New Zealand. Broadcast visuals showed Williamson seated next to BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shukla and senior India men’s selector RP Singh.
Williamson’s appearance comes at a time when his autobiography, The Bare Margins, has only recently reached bookshelves in New Zealand. Copies of it are on sale in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga, which is also his hometown.
Williamson retired from international cricket in June after playing in the Lord’s Test against England. His autobiography has explored themes about his life off the field, his friendship with India batting stalwart Virat Kohli, and differences of opinion with former New Zealand head coach Gary Stead.
Though Williamson is still active in the franchise cricket circuit, he has also been involved in off-field roles – like serving as a strategic advisor for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2026. The presence of Williamson, Shukla and Singh comes at a time where every ticket for the Bay Oval game was sold out.
Over a remarkable 16-year international career, Williamson amassed 9,515 Test runs, 7,256 ODI runs, and 2,575 T20I runs. Under his captaincy, New Zealand were runners-up in the 2019 ODI World Cup and 2021 T20 World Cup finals before winning the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) crown in 2021 by beating India in Southampton.
Coming to the ODI series decider, Jacob Duffy and skipper Mitchell Santner shared six wickets between themselves as New Zealand bowled out India for 209 in 42.1 overs. No Indian batter reached fifty, with Axar Patel and Ishan Kishan top-scoring with 46 each.
After the ODI series ends on Sunday, India and New Zealand will square off in a two-game Test series starting on November 19 at Basin Reserve in Wellington. It is followed by the second Test starting on November 27 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Both teams are firmly in contention for next year’s World Test Championship (WTC) summit clash at The Oval. While New Zealand occupy the second spot on the WTC table behind table-toppers and current champions South Africa, two-time runners-up India are currently ranked fourth.
–IANS
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