New Delhi: Kane Williamson, the captain of New Zealand, turns 33 today, August 8. One of the top batsmen of the modern era is Williamson. In the modern era of Twenty20 cricket, where the majority of batsmen create new shots. Williamson, in contrast, made no modifications to his traditional batting approach. He always has confidence in his method.

Kane Williamson, who is New Zealand's best batsman since the legendary Martin Crowe, has been a wonder child since he was a teenager. In addition to being skilled against fast bowling, his exceptional talent included the uncommon Non-Asian ability to play quality spin. It's fair to say that the Williamson family was filled with sports enthusiasts.

While his mother was a skilled basketball player and his sisters were outstanding volleyball players, his father had played cricket when they were younger. Therefore, it came as no surprise when Kane developed a passion for sports, specifically cricket.

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Since his Under-19 years, it was anticipated that Williamson, in addition to serving as captain, would one day form the core of New Zealand's batting. Like his batting, he had a ton of leadership abilities. In line with expectations, Williamson represented New Zealand in 2010 and made his debut abroad in Sri Lanka for the tri-series that also included India.

His white-ball career got off to a disastrous start with ducks in his first two innings, but later that year in Dhaka, his class couldn't be kept under wraps for long as he hit a century against Bangladesh. When Williamson was selected for the team, it was for a difficult trip to India. Williamson made a huge statement by scoring a century on his debut.

Williamson continued to score runs in the years that followed, but not at the same levels of consistency that people had come to expect from him. However, that changed in 2014 when he also set a ton of records during a home ODI series against India.

He became just the second batsman (after Yasir Hameed) in ODI history to accomplish this feat with fifty plus scores in each of the five games. He also became the fourth ODI player from New Zealand to hit five or more straight fifty-plus scores. He also has the most fifty-plus scores by a New Zealand batsman in a bilateral series with five.

Williamson had a great year in 2014, but it was 2015 that launched him into the top tier of batsmen. In addition to amassing a massive 1376 runs in ODIs at a strong average of 57, he scored 1172 runs in Tests at a mind-boggling average of 90. Everyone was impressed by the effortless ease with which he handled bowling attacks more than the numbers. New Zealand made history in 2015 as well, as they reached their first World Cup final.

Williamson was soon named New Zealand's captain across all formats because he was a dependable player and had leadership abilities at his disposal. Brendon McCullum announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket at the beginning of 2016, right before the World T20 in India.

Despite the size of the role, Williamson performed about as well as people had anticipated. Although he still has a ways to go before being a successful captain, one aspect of his leadership abilities that stands out is his street smarts.

Cricket community and fans also wished Kane on his 33rd Birthday:-

Another year older, wiser, and even more King sized⚡????

May your day be as grand as your centuries! ????#AavaDe pic.twitter.com/2F6LRUl88u

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) August 8, 2023

???? THREAD on Kane Williamson's Key Knocks in ICC Events He Top Scored for NZ

Birthday thread for Kane Williamson ????❤️ pic.twitter.com/QoX3NXTBOm

— ????????????????²² ???????????????? (@Sivy_KW578) August 8, 2023

Over 17,000 international runs. New Zealand’s all-time leading Test run-scorer. Player of the 2019 World Cup. The man who led the Blackcaps to the inaugural WTC title.

Happy 33rd birthday to one of the modern greats, Kane Williamson ✨ pic.twitter.com/7u17xn6qwq

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 8, 2023

- 8,124 Test runs.
- 6,555 ODI runs.
- 54.89 Test average.
- 28 Test centuries.
- 2018 IPL Orange Cap.
- 2019 World Cup POTT.
- 2021 WTC winning captain.

- Happy birthday to one of the greatest ever from Kiwi land, Kane Williamson...!! pic.twitter.com/IE0Skcb36x

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 8, 2023

Throwback to when Kane Williamson celebrated his birthday with the Sri Lankan fans ❤️

(via @ThePapareSports) pic.twitter.com/vUJNgvMY1F

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 8, 2023

One of the crazy finishes ever in World Cup history.

Kane Williamson, The birthday boy...!!!pic.twitter.com/JDQwI1VZTD

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 8, 2023

Williamson's batting is a purists delight - what with his classy strokeplay blending nicely with his footwork and gritty temperament. His relative inability to score quickly and at will might be the only minor drawback to his batting. You could say that the other Kiwi batsmen enjoy having him act as a sheet anchor.

But if he can improve his white-ball abilities, he could become a real phenomenon in cricket. This is not to say that in the shorter formats, he hasn't produced noteworthy hits. There have been many blows in that direction, but he demonstrated during the 2017 IPL that he can easily transition into that role.

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Kane Williamson, who is frequently described as a traditional Test batsman, signed his first contract with an IPL team in 2015. He joined the Sunrisers Hyderabad for less than $100,000 (82,79,480 INR), and in his first campaign, he failed to pay off, especially considering the limited opportunities he had in an unfamiliar lower-middle order position.

Williamson was a member of the team in 2016, when David Warner captained them to their first championship, and he was kept on for the 2017 campaign for $460,500(3,81,27,005 INR), demonstrating the organization's confidence in his ability to serve as the batting order's foundational rock. Williamson was given the captaincy for the 2018 season after David Warner was stripped of his captaincy and banned from the IPL following the 2018 auction.

Against all odds, the Kiwi captain's batting showed a different side, scoring 735 runs at 52.50 and a 142.44 strike rate. Additionally, he guided his team to the championship game only to suffer a second loss to the Chennai Super Kings in the playoffs. Williamson is likely to keep the position in the 2019 season and will undoubtedly continue to be an important cog in the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting order with Warner out of the running for any leadership roles.

Kane Williamson has participated in 13 World Cup games, but he hasn't really found his groove in any of them. Only one fifty has been scored by the top-order batsman in 13 innings, and his average is also not particularly impressive. But in the 2015 World Cup's Pool A match against Australia, he recorded one of his most memorable World Cup defeats.

Australia was on the verge of defending a pitiful total after the left-arm pacer claimed six wickets in the game, but Kane Williamson saved the day by smashing a huge six to get the Kiwis over the finish line. With the help of KW's 45* innings, New Zealand won by one wicket.

Over the past few years, Williamson has developed both as a player and a leader; for the gifted athlete, it's only been uphill. Despite the fact that his first two World Cups weren't great, there would be a lot riding on him this time. Williamson has experienced players by his side with the likes of Guptill and Taylor in the lineup.

It will be interesting to see how New Zealand performs under his leadership during the 2019 World Cup given his ability to perform under pressure. Additionally, it wouldn't be shocking if Williamson ended up being New Zealand's leading run scorer in the competition.

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