Cricket WC: Kane Williamson calm in the wake of semifinal storm

New Zealand skipper in awe of Ravindra's purple patch at the World Cup

Mumbai: Kane Williamson could well have been on vacation, engaging his friends in banter over a cold beer. That’s the vibe he wore. Only, he was at a press conference at the Wankhede stadium ahead of their all-important semifinals against India.

Confronted by over 60 journalists and a moody microphone on Tuesday, Williamson was at his jocular best, but when it came down to describing the mood in his dressing room, he got into skipper mode as quickly as he could.

“We know it's going to be a really tough challenge,” he said. “They’re a side that's been playing extremely well, but we also know come finals time, everything sort of starts again and it's all about the day. So, for us as a team, it's very much the focus on our cricket again. We've played some good cricket throughout. We've had a couple of narrow losses and a few wins along the way which have put us in this position we're in. So, we're excited about the challenge ahead."

The challenge has been more so exacerbated in the case of Williamson who has just about recovered from a thumb injury. Williamson has only played three games this World Cup due to the aforementioned injury but has looked in fine fettle when he’s out on the pitch.

Explaining his stint at the helm of his fourth ICC event for New Zealand, Williamson said: "Yeah, yeah, an interesting journey for sure, from sort of it not being a chance to getting close and it becoming a reality and something to target and certainly feeling really grateful to be here and then to get back and then break my thumb.

He continued: “It was quite frustrating and testing but still feeling that it hadn't ruled me out so I still was grateful for that and it's nice to be fitter than perhaps I was yesterday and be sitting here.

So personally, it's great to be here and it's nice to be a part of this tournament. These tournaments are special and world events in India certainly add to that.”

Speaking of special, Rachin Ravindra has been New Zealand’s fore-figure as far as this tournament is concerned with 565 runs from nine games at an average of 70.62. The left-hander has been at the peak of his powers, and Williamson was in awe.

“Yeah, quite incredible really, burst onto the scene and in a big way in a role that perhaps wasn't sort of natural maybe within our environment,” said Williamson. “He did a bit of it domestically, but to do what he's done so far in this tournament with his feet firmly on the ground has been really, really special, and as we've all seen, he's an incredibly special and talented player and a fantastic individual in the environment.

“It's not just the volume of runs that he's achieved so far but how he's been scoring them and how it's been geared towards trying to move the team forward. Some fantastic contributions so far and at such a young age and I'm sure we'll see plenty more of it to come,” he said.