"Still nursing his thumb injury" - Tom Latham confirms Kane Williamson's unavailability for IND vs NZ 2023 World Cup clash

New Zealand's stand-in skipper Tom Latham confirmed that Kane Williamson hasn't fully recovered from his thumb injury and will miss the crucial match against India on Sunday (October 22) in the 2023 World Cup. The keeper-batter also revealed that Tim Southee remains available for selection, having not played in this edition so far.

Williamson played his first game of the tournament against Bangladesh in Chennai, but sustained a thumb injury during the closing stages of the match, rendering him to miss the Afghanistan clash.

Meanwhile, Southee also sustained a fractured thumb during last month's ODI series against England and hasn't played since.

Speaking ahead of the game on Sunday at a presser, Latham also kept in mind New Zealand's Rugby World Cup campaign and wished them, saying:

"Obviously great to see you know that they're there for another week and good luck to them next week's going to be a great contest and yeah Kane's obviously, still nursing his thumb injury.

"It's a day-by-day process with him as well. Fingers crossed he'll be available for later on in the tournament. And in regards to Tim, he's available for selection."

The Kiwis have arguably been among the best teams in the tournament, sitting pretty at the top by winning all four games they have played so far.

"We've had some great contests" - Tom Latham on New Zealand's strong record over India in ICC events

Tom Latham and Kane Williamson batting. (Credits: Twitter)

With India yet to beat New Zealand in an ICC event since 2003, Latham suggests that past events don't matter too much as the side are concentrating on getting a victory in Dharamshala. He added:

"I'm not sure to be honest. They're a fantastic team. They've been playing some great cricket for a long period of time. We've had some great contests in ICC events, but also in bilateral series, whether that be home or away. We've played each other quite a lot over recent years, which has been really cool.

"So yeah, I'm not too sure as I said just before - for us, it's just about trying to play our game plan as best we can and try to execute it as well as we can and if we do that then we know we can beat any team in the world on our day."

The team winning on Sunday should have one foot in the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup.