Hopeful to be back on field soon: Williamson on his elbow injury

Auckland [New Zealand], February 11 (ANI): New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who also leads Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is hopeful to recover from his elbow injury before the 15th edition of the tournament.
In IPL 2021 (14th edition), Williamson played with an injured elbow after missing out on the first three matches of the Indian leg. He eventually got retained by the franchise for 14 crores, ahead of the mega auction.
The Kiwi batter had to miss out on many matches during the T20 World Cup in the UAE and later on in the series against India, where he sat out in the second Test.
"All the conversations, certainly with New Zealand cricket and Sunrisers who are aware of this...I've had it [elbow injury] for a long time now, so this period of time is to try and get it right. I guess the timing of this period is sort of dictated by injury. It is progressing, which is a good thing, and there's still quite a bit of time between now and then, or now and some of the Netherlands games perhaps. There's nothing definite, but it is progressing. So I'm hopeful that I'll be back on the field as soon as possible," said Williamson as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
"Last [IPL] season was an example as well, where I wasn't involved initially and it was elbow-related as well. The franchise was great and supportive of it. I'm optimistic that it will continue to improve. The [T20] format, in particular, is slightly more friendly to manage the load. So, we will wait and see, but it is taking steps forward, which is positive," he added.
Williamson further said that going to a rehab for his injury is a better option than going through a surgery.
"Cutting it off - thought about it a few times. From what I can gather and certainly talking to the professionals is that it doesn't promise; it's sort of an absolute last resort and after, if there's a real requirement of rehab and specific loading because it sort of doesn't promise... This [rehab] is without a doubt the more preferred option at this point of time and hopefully the one that works and gets rid of it. It is tracking in the right direction," said Williamson.
"I think it's progressing. It has been very slow. It has been frustrating, but certainly putting in the time and effort into the rehab and a very gradual loading sort of a batting schedule as well because clearly in the last sort of a year and a bit, I have tried to learn as much as I can about it. And it has been a very frustrating time really - one of the more frustrating periods in my career where it's essentially not something that's broken but something that's more disruptive than anything to my body," he added.
The Kiwi skipper has also missed the home Test series against Bangladesh and will also be missing the upcoming Test series against South Africa. (ANI)