Kane Williamson - Serenity at its best

Serenity at its best

He is a humble and intelligent player. He does not worry and does not lash at criticism. He times the ball to perfection. He is a player whom opposition players find hard to combat. His job is to do it all, when situation demands him to do so. He is none other than Kane Williamson.

Batting suited him from the minute he picked up his first bat; he has the perfect height, balance, fast-twitch muscles, electric feet, and an inquisitive mind.

  

Williamson- A versatile player

With a solid defence technique, he is the perfect test player. The sound when the ball meets the middle of his bat is splendid. His ability to deal with pressure is amazing as he performs better under pressure. He has the gift of timing the ball. It is almost impossible to break his calmness and serenity when he is in the middle. That’s why he is a difficult player to deal with. Due to his humility and lack of ego, the opposition cannot resort to sledging.

  

He has all the shots in the bag. If you ball short to him, he can pull you or play the perfect square cut. He can pierce the ball through the offside with ease through his back foot punch or through his cracking front foot drives. If you ball even a bit straight to him, he has his wrists to flick the ball so easily in the leg side.

Revolutionary Player

Many people thought that Williamson with his solid technique is not fit to play T20 cricket. Many people believe that T20 cricket requires a lot of power and innovation which Williamson does not possess. However, Williamson has proved everyone wrong. He has revolutionised the T20 cricket.

Though he does not have the power, he has the rare skill of maneuvering the ball into gaps with minimum effort. He does not play unorthodox shots like reverse sweep, upper cut, ramps shots and he does not need it. He has all the orthodox shots in his bag and he knows how to use them to score runs quickly.

 But what I really like about him is that though he accepts that he does not have the game of a perfect T20 player, however he has the gift of adaptability. He has intelligently developed on his strengths and has used them cleverly in the T20 format. He has been able to score at a strike rate of 130-140 without having to play the big shots often. He is a busy player too and runs hard between the wickets as he understands the importance of each and every run.

He has just not scores runs, he has created masterpieces. Huge centuries, on a regular basis, came from a young mind that could see what no other around him could see. He has always had a deeper understanding of the game and a clear vision of where he is heading.

That kind of composure he has is rare. He always plays his innings over and over in his imagination. Therein lies the secret. To see it first.  To own it. Then go get it.

He is that player who the young batsmen today should look up to as he has played cricket his way and has succeeded remarkably. A bright future lies ahead of him and I hope he tumbles more records as he makes his way to the top.