Kane Williamson: A legend in the making

By scoring an unbeaten 200 in the first Test against Bangladesh at Hamilton, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson became the first from his country to enter the 20 centuries club in Test cricket.

It was his second double century in five-day cricket by virtue of which Kiwis posted their highest Test innings total of 715/6. Eventually, Bangladesh were batted out of the match as they lost by an innings and 52 runs.

Kiwi Run Machine

Since making a great debut in late 2010 against in India, where he scored 131 in his maiden innings against a high-quality spin attack, Kane has not only lived up to his reputation but has gone notches above in comparison with the other top willow wielders of his country.

Kane Williamson has been most prolific in run scoring for New Zealand

Apart from the first to score 20 tons in Test cricket, the NZ skipper is the only one among his countrymen (who have scored more than 1000 Test runs) who is having 50+ average. His second double ton on Saturday helped him in going past 6000 runs making him stand fourth currently among the highest run scorers of the Tasmanian country.

List of leading run scorers in Tests from New Zealand

Among his contemporaries in the Test cricket world as well, Williamson's numbers are on par with the highest performing batsmen. He is scoring at an average similar to Indian batting sensation Virat Kohli as shown in the below table:

Kane Williamson in numbers which are in par with other contemporary greats

Conventional But Aggressive Batting Style

The batting style of Williamson appears to be conventional and well accomplished in the longer format of the game. But his ability to change gears as and when needed and the way he paces his innings according to the situation in shorter format of the game, makes him one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world cricket.

His numbers are prolific in shorter formats as well. In 139 matches played in 50 over format, he has scored 5554 runs at an average of 45.90 with an impressive strike rate of 82. In 57 Twenty20 International matches he has 1505 runs to his credit with an average of 31.35 and scoring at the rate of 121 runs per 100 balls.

Kane Williamson's batting style has helped him in excelling in shorter format as well

Apart from the mind-boggling numbers, the fact that he bats at the crucial No. 3 position in all formats of the game underscores the importance of his role as the most dependable batsman of his side.

Excelling In The Captaincy Role

After the retirement of Brendon McCullum in early 2016, Williamson took the reigns of NZ captaincy in all formats at an young age of 25. But he has been very successful in playing the dual roles of captain and premier batsman.

In the captaincy role, Williamson has led the team in 23 Tests, in which he has scored 2028 runs with the help of 7 centuries and with an average of 63.37 which is far more than his career average.

Legend in the Making

Williamson is now 28; having made his debut at a very young age of 20, he has already attained the status of an accomplished cricketer. With age by his side, if he plays for another 7-8 years at this pace he would not only be at the top most position in Test and ODI batting charts of NZ but also would be counted among the legends of the game.