"Cut it off, I’ve thought about that a few times" - Kane Williamson on his elbow injury

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has expressed his frustration over an elbow injury, forcing him to miss the home Test series against South Africa. The elegant right-handed batter said that he has, at times, thought of slashing his left arm that is hindering his international return.

Although Williamson has reportedly been making good progress, he has missed plenty of cricket since the 2021 T20 World Cup. The 31-year-old missed the T20 series in India, followed by a lone Test.

Tom Latham, who will lead against South Africa, took charge against Bangladesh as well due to the regular captain's absence.

Williamson acknowledged that it has been a frustrating time, as his injury is a peculiar one. However, the former number one ranked Test batter said he is working with the medical team to get it sorted.

"Cut it off...I’ve thought about that a few times. Everyone seems to have a different story with this sort of injury, so I was certainly hopeful. But not to be, and it's a tough pill to swallow, to be honest. It has been tough to get my head around, but I'm getting the support of the medical staff and New Zealand Cricket around the big picture. But as a player, it's not always easy to do," he stated, as quoted by Stuff.co.nz.

Black Caps' head coach Gary Stead discussed the star batter's injury, and remained confident of the player's full recovery. The right-hander is reportedly targeting a comeback in the white-ball series against the Netherlands, followed by IPL 2022 in India.

"I'm just really curious about my endpoint" - Kane Williamson

The Tauranga-born player remains desperate to see the endpoint of his long-standing injury, having seen people overcome it. In this regard, he added:

"I've heard a number of stories of people who have got through it, and those were certainly encouraging at the start. I'm just really curious about my end point. But everyone has been pretty unanimous that there will be one, but it's just putting in the time and effort to basically seeing the back of it."

The New Zealand captain is among the three players retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction, Abdul Samad and Umran Malik being the others.