'I'll Be Supporting From Afar': New Zealand Stalwart Kane Williamson Highlights The Biggest Reason Behind His Decision To Retire From T20Is

Former New Zealand skipper and a celebrated member of the Fabulous Four (Fab 4), Kane Williamson has decided to retire from the shortest international format, the T20Is. The Kiwi stalwart, who has played 93 matches in his T20I career, surprisingly hung up his boots from the shortest international format with less than four months to go for the World T20.

After New Zealand's early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup, Williamson had already passed on leadership duties to Mitchell Santner, and since then he had been very selective about his national appearances.

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Williamson Opens Up on His Retirement

Kane Williamson, the 35-year-old stalwart, has signed off as New Zealand's second-highest run-scorer in men's T20Is. Williamson has scored 2575 runs at an average of 33, including 18 fifties. His highest individual score in the shortest international format is 95 runs. The star batter made his T20I debut for the Kiwis in 2011, and he ended up leading his country in 75 games in the format. Under Williamson's leadership, New Zealand played the final of the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup. He also led New Zealand to two T20 World Cup semi-finals (2016 and 2022).

While announcing his retirement from the shortest international format, Williamson highlighted a few reasons, and he also reiterated the fact that the Kiwis have a big pool of talent and they have a great leader in Mitchell Santner, who has come into his own as a leader.

"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. 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. Santner's really come into his own with this team. It's now their time to push the BlackCaps forward in this format and I'll be supporting from afar," Kane Williamson said.

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Dissecting Williamson's Records in T20Is

Kane Williamson bows out of the shortest international format with a few records. He holds the record of being the skipper to have the highest score (85) in a T20 World Cup knockout match. Williamson also holds the record of hitting the most fours and scoring most runs as New Zealand's skipper.