Kane Williamson Announced Retirement from T20I: New Zealand's legendary batsman Kane Williamson has announced his retirement from T20 International cricket, about three months before the T20 World Cup 2026. This has dealt a major blow to the New Zealand team ahead of the mega event to be held in India and Sri Lanka. After playing 93 T20 Internationals, Kane Williamson has decided to end his T20 International career. He will miss the upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies to focus on the three-match Test series in December.
The 35-year-old Williamson is retiring as New Zealand's second-highest T20I run-scorer, having amassed 2,575 runs at an average of 33, including 18 half-centuries and a highest score of 95. Williamson made his T20I debut in 2011 and has since captained New Zealand in 75 matches, leading the team to two ICC T20 World Cup semi-finals (2016 and 2022) and one final (2021). Williamson said it was the right time to step away from the shortest format.
Williamson's last T20I was at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2024 against Papua New Guinea. His innings of 85 in the 2021 decider against Australia remains the highest score by a captain in any edition of the Men's T20 World Cup.
"It's something that I've loved being a part of for a long period of time and I'm so grateful for the memories and experiences," Williamson said.
"It's the right time for myself and the team. It gives the team clarity for the series moving forward and ahead of their next major focus which is the T20 World Cup.
"There's so much T20 talent there and the next period will be important to get cricket into these guys and get them ready for the World Cup."
Kane Williamson is a very calm player. He has fans not only in New Zealand but all over the world. He enjoys immense love in India. Whenever he has played T20 matches in any corner of the world, he has received immense love and support. This veteran's calm captaincy, strategic thinking, and batting have given the Kiwi team a significant recognition in world cricket. Now, Williamson will focus solely on red-ball and ODI cricket. This decision could help prolong his career, as he remains a batting pillar for New Zealand.
NZC chief executive Scott Weenink lauded Williamson’s immense contribution, saying the board fully respected his decision. “We’ve made it clear to Kane he has our full support as he reaches the back end of his illustrious career. We’d love to see him play for as long as possible, but there’s no doubt he will go down as a legend of New Zealand cricket.”
And talking about Kane's team New Zealand which played 3 match ODI series against England and the final match of the series between was played yesterday at Sky Stadium in Wellington. The match was a low-scoring affair, but the excitement reached its peak in the end. New Zealand struggled to achieve a small target and managed to secure victory in the final overs. With this, the Kiwis defeated England 3-0, completing a clean sweep of the series.
