Is Kane Williamson, the ODI player, severely underrated?

It was surprising, and for good reason, when it became known that Kane Williamson had reached his 7,000th ODI run faster than anyone in the world, except one. That he’d beaten the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers felt slightly off at first.

That he’d taken 14-and-a-half years to get there somehow broke the math: with all the accolades around his Test achievements, Williamson has quietly constructed a fine ODI career as well.

How good is Williamson compared to others from New Zealand?

Williamson is currently New Zealand’s fifth-highest ODI run-getter, behind Ross Taylor, Stephen Fleming, Martin Guptill and Nathan Astle. He’s likely to go past Astle very soon, probably in the ongoing Pakistan tri-series itself. To reach Taylor’s tally of 8,607 runs might require him to play more frequently – at 34, that might not be as easy if his ODI appearances stay as limited as they have been of late.

Williamson v the rest

Since his debut in August 2010, Williamson has scored the third-most runs in the world, behind only Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Both the Indian batters have played far more than Williamson. In the top ten run-getters since, only Kohli, Rohit and Williamson average over 49.

Kane Williamson at No.3:

He has primarily batted at No.3 (83 per cent of his ODI career), and the numbers are impressive. Williamson sits fifth in the all-time run charts for number threes, averaging higher than the likes of Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and Jacques Kallis. Among all No.3 batters with at least 100 innings, Williamson’s average is bettered only by Kohli and Babar Azam.

On the same list, Williamson’s strike rate is the fifth best (82.16), although his contemporaries – Kohli, Babar and Joe Root, have scored at a much faster rate.

World Cup success

In World Cups, Williamson averages 61.42 from 26 matches: among all players with a 25-innings cut-off, Williamson’s average is the best ever. He played a pivotal role in taking New Zealand to the final in 2019, ending as the Player of the Tournament. In the 2023 edition, he averaged 85.33 from four games. His 2015 tournament was quieter, but still contained a great World Cup moment, hitting a straight six to seal a one-wicket win in a helter-skelter classic against eventual champions Australia.

Though limited, the success extends to the Champions Trophy too: in six games, he averages 69, with a hundred and three fifties.

How has Williamson fared everywhere?

Williamson’s ODI performances have often ranged in the extreme: he’s fared poorly in Sri Lanka and Australia, two nations with vastly different conditions, while his numbers in the West Indies aren’t great either. Everywhere else, he averages at least 40.

How far can Williamson go in ODIs?

Elbow, knee, thumb… Williamson has been quite injury prone over the last few years, missing several games along the way. New Zealand’s own ODI schedule has also been quite up and down.

Since the end of 2019, Williamson has played just 18 ODIs (and none last year, as well as in 2021).

While Williamson took the second-fewest innings to cross 7,000 runs, he’s also taken the longest among all those within a 250-innings cutoff. The century against South Africa came after a gap of 2,063 days.

Ahead of the Champions Trophy this year, Williamson has linked back with the ODI team, and might do the same two years from now with sporadic appearances in the middle, if the intention is to play the 2027 ODI World Cup.

From that perspective, Williamson might not be able to reach Taylor’s tally, but is likely to at least finish among New Zealand’s top-three run-getters if he ends up having a good Champions Trophy.

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