Blackcaps coach Gary Stead has calmed any fears over the fitness of white-ball captain Kane Williamson, despite his withdrawal from the Twenty20 squad to face Bangladesh next week.
Williamson, 33, was all but ruled out of 2023 when he ruptured his knee playing in the Indian Premier League, but after a miraculous recovery, he was back playing in just six months, captaining New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup in India.
He led the Blackcaps to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by their hosts, and then contested the 1-1 test series draw away in Bangladesh.
As part of the white-ball core group, Williamson was rested from the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh, but was named to lead the Blackcaps in the T20 series beginning Wednesday.
He has been withdrawn from the squad, replaced by Rachin Ravindra, with Mitchell Santner was named captain instead.
The news of Williamson's withdrawal cites the need for rehabilitation on his knee, but speaking from Napier before the ODI series finale on Saturday, Stead insists there is nothing to fear.
"I don't think they should be worried," said Stead. "This has always been about looking at a long-term plan with Kane.
"Many of the knee tendon reconstructions, he had can take anything from 12-18 months to become 100 percent right.
"There's always that risk with increased load on it. In this case, we're taking a cautious approach with it.
"We want to make sure Kane Williamson is playing for New Zealand for as long as he can. If that means he's not playing now for a couple of weeks, we think it's the right call to make."
With test series against both South Africa and Australia to come this summer, selectors can't afford to take any risks over players' fitness.
Kyle Jamieson has also been removed from the squad, as he battles a hamstring complaint, after two years dogged by injuries.
While the decision to rest Williamson and Jamieson wasn't made specifically in relation to upcoming tests, Stead explains workloads need to be managed.
"With the timing of the summer and what we have coming up, we have to make calls around every player," he added.
"We just felt at this time, in conjunction with the players, this is the right call to make."
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