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Australia vs New Zealand: When Brendon McCullum prophesied greatness for Williamson and Ponting didn’t agree
Many moons ago, when Williamson toured Australia for the first time as a 21-year old, wicket-keeper batsman Brendon McCullum, who was to later take over as New Zealand captain, had told Aussie legend Ricky Ponting that Williamson would go on to become a great. Punter though had not taken McCullum’s words seriously.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is perhaps one of the most complete batsman in world cricket today, along with Indian captain Virat Kohli. Williamson’s ability to adapt to any particular situation and go about his business in a nonchalant manner makes him one of the best of this generation. Add to that his leadership skills and you have complete package and a modern day great in the making.
Many moons ago, when Williamson toured Australia for the first time as a 21-year old, wicket-keeper batsman Brendon McCullum, who was to later take over as New Zealand captain, had told Aussie legend Ricky Ponting that Williamson would go on to become a great. Punter though had not taken McCullum’s words seriously.
“Brendon McCullum said to me then ‘this kid is going to be one of the best players in the world’,” Ponting was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“And I thought ‘really?’. He was pretty loose outside off stump and was going pretty hard at the ball.
“But when you see him now and what he’s developed into, he plays the ball later than anybody, he makes big runs, he makes runs consistently and he’s been talked about as a being one of the best players in the world for the last four or five years.
“And he’s their captain, so he’s a very important player for them,” Ponting said.
Considered to be a batsman with a game suited for the longer formats of cricket, Williamson has brought about a sea change in his T20 batting skills and that for Ponting is surely a mark of greatness.
“I’ve seen him turn himself from an ordinary T20 player into a very good T20 player, and that’s not an easy thing to do.
“That says a lot about the skill that he’s got,” Ponting opined
