New Zealand need collective effort to replace Williamson: Ravindra

Williamson brought the curtain down on his illustrious New Zealand career following the first Test defeat against England at Lord's, leaving New Zealand with a huge hole in their line-up when the second Test starts at the Oval on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old is New Zealand's all-time leading run scorer across all formats with 19,346 runs, including 48 centuries and six double hundreds, in 378 appearances between 2010 and 2026.

Williamson, who captained New Zealand on 206 occasions, scored 9,515 runs at an average of 54.06 in 110 Tests for the Black Caps.

New Zealand all-rounder Ravindra conceded it will be impossible for one player to produce the wealth of runs amassed by Williamson.

Instead Ravindra hopes New Zealand's overall batting depth can help fill the void.

"I don't necessarily see it as pressure. Whenever a great moves on there is always a hole in the team," Ravindra told reporters on Monday.

"But the strength and quality in our depth in our team is what we pride ourselves on. We have Henry Nicholls and obviously Will Young is here as batting back-up.

"We all share responsibility within our batting unit. It's not on one guy, it's pretty hard to fill in that gap and unfortunately I don't think many people can. So it will be a collective effort."

Ravindra said New Zealand's squad had no complaints about Williamson's decision to step away in the middle of the three-Test series.

"It's always tough when probably our greatest player calls time. We were all so supportive of his decision," he said.

"Kane is such an amazing player but more than that he's such an amazing bloke and has contributed so much to New Zealand.

"Personally I have looked up to him for a long time now. He's one of my biggest idols. I was very lucky to share the crease with him and enjoy some cool partnerships.

"Sharing the crease, he is in a zen zone. He's such a great mentor. Kane has done things in his own way and decided the time is right. He has been so giving to the group."

New Zealand will look to bounce back after being thrashed by 115 runs at Lord's, where they found it difficult to cope with a treacherous pitch that made it hard for the batsmen.

"We take learnings from everything, whether it is success or failure. There were some balls keeping low and seaming around at Lord's. We do know it is a fresh start," Ravindra said.

"This will be a different surface, different conditions. We haven't played a Test at the Oval for a long time."

© 2026 AFP

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