Kane Williamson resigned as captain of the New Zealand team on Thursday, making Tim Southee the second top pacer to lead a Test team after Pat Cummins of Australia.
After taking over for Brendon McCullum in 2016, Williamson commanded the Black Caps in 40 Tests, winning 22, losing eight, and drawing ten (2 NR). Williamson has decided to step down as Test captain in order to focus on the white-ball game.
Tim Southee will assume the captain's role for the Black Caps Test team following Kane Williamson's resignation, according to a statement released by New Zealand Cricket on Thursday.
Williamson opined that now was the proper time to retreat.
"He was reported by NZC as saying in a release on Thursday that leading the Black Caps in Test cricket has been an extraordinarily wonderful "honour."
"I consider Test cricket to be the ultimate form of the sport, and I've enjoyed the trials of captaining the team in it. Since being captain entails a greater amount of labour both on and off the field, I believe that this point in my career is the perfect one to make this choice.
After talking with NZC, we decided that Williamson should continue to lead the white-ball formats because there will be two World Cups in the following two years.
He will play in all three formats as the nation's ODI and T20I captain, and he will give Southee his full support.
"I'm thrilled to back Tom (Latham) as vice-captain and Tim as captain. I've spent the majority of my career playing with both of them, so I know they'll do a fantastic job.
My top priority is to represent the Black Caps and contribute in all three formats, and I'm excited about the next cricket season.
When he leads the squad on this month's Test tour to Pakistan, Southee, who has played 346 international matches and has already commanded the Twenty20 team on 22 occasions, will become New Zealand's 31st Test captain.
The last match, which begins in Multan on January 3, follows the two Test series, which begins in Karachi on December 26.
Williamson had been a good Test captain, according to Gary Stead, the coach of New Zealand.
Kane has led the Test team through a period of tremendous success, which is a credit to his ability to unite people and encourage them to work together, the author wrote. "He has undoubtedly set the pace with his own performances, and that was especially true as we battled to win the World Test Championship.
"We hope that by reducing his workload, we can continue to see Kane Williamson at his best on the international stage for longer, and we know he will remain a major leader in this squad," the statement reads.
According to Stead, the selection of Southee as captain was based on the course that the Test squad wished to take, according to a NZC announcement.
Tim is a capable leader with a sharp cricket mind, according to Stead. He continued, "We've seen his leadership abilities with the T20 side, and I'm confident he'll continue to bring an aggressive style, while also keeping the core tenets of how this Black Caps squad operates in the Test arena.
Test matches, according to Southee, are the greatest challenge a cricket player can face. He is extremely excited to be the Test captain.
"The past three days have been weird, and being named Test captain is an enormous honour.
"I adore Test cricket because it is the greatest challenge, and I'm very thrilled about the chance to captain the side in this format.
Kane has been a fantastic Test captain, and I'm eager to collaborate with Gary on how we can build on that.
Williamson has been praised by NZC CEO David White for his leadership of the Test team.
"Since Kane is one of our all-time greats, we want to make sure he enjoys playing cricket and represents New Zealand for as long as he can.
The team's performance under his leadership in the longest and possibly most difficult version of the game has been nothing short of extraordinary. He is a fantastic leader.
The team's ascent to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings at the beginning of 2021 and subsequent victory in the ICC World Test Championship Final in June of that year made him statistically the most successful Test captain we've ever had, he added.
Williamson's decision to resign as Test captain is hardly shocking because other New Zealand players have declined central contracts to stay active in the lucrative T20 league circuit.
In order to extend their white-ball careers, players typically choose to stop playing white-ball cricket. Williamson has chosen to give up the Test captaincy in order to play all three forms, but the burgeoning T20 leagues have the potential to pay off handsomely.
It remains to be seen if he will be able to do so for an extended period of time.