Countries have followed IPL to start their leagues: Kane Williamson

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is touted as one of the astute cricketing minds going around these days. The Kiwi makes the best of his resources and derives the result that is expected of a captain. To top that, he is also one of the best batsmen in the world today and the leader of a pack carries the proud tag of ‘The Nice Guys of Cricket’.

Williamson recently spoke with India spinner R Ashwin on the latter’s chat show DRS with Ashwin, and discussed a variety of subjects, including the grandness of the Indian Premier League.

“The initial interest was obviously watching the IPL and seeing how big it was, it is the biggest domestic competition, T20 cricket being relatively new, what I saw was an opportunity to gain experience and learn,” Williamson said on the show.

“For us, to see the passion for cricket in India is an amazing thing, it is a brilliant competition and there is a high standard, a lot of other countries have followed suit to start their leagues,” he continued.

In the absence of David Warner, Williamson had led the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018, taking them to the final where they lost to the CSK. The 29-year-old also shared his views on how leading an IPL team was different from the Black Caps.

“It is quite different to lead New Zealand and an IPL franchise, initially I did not know what to expect, but like I mentioned it is an Indian competition so you are coming into quite a different culture, I was trying to keep an open mind, there is a lot of experience in all of the groups, it was an enjoyable season to lead the SunRisers Hyderabad.”

“The support staff have been there at Hyderabad for a long time and they have enjoyed success, it was about maintaining the style of play that we are known for,” he added.