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Ahead of the 100th Test match of his career, New Zealand batter Kane Williamson reminisced on his debut in a longer format against India, how he was taken aback by the presence of his childhood heroes like Sachin Tendulkar and how till this very day, he is learning the art of batting.
The second Test between Australia and New Zealand will be starting from Thursday onwards. Australia is 1-0 up in the series. This will be Williamson's 100th Test, a batter who has made a name for himself as perhaps the best batter Kiwis have produced. He is also the 1/4th of the 'Fab Four' batters of the modern era alongside stars like India's Virat Kohli, Australia's Steve Smith and England's Joe Root. In 99 Tests, Williamson has made 8,675 runs at an average of 55.25. He has scored 32 centuries and 33 fifties in 174 innings of his illustrious Test career, with the best score of 251. Speaking to the reporters ahead of the milestone match, Williamson said that during his debut Test against India in November 2010, in which he scored 131 runs during the first innings in a drawn game, he was taken aback by presence of Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. He wondered that what he was doing sharing the field with such legends and started to focus on seeing the ball and competing while living out this surreal moment. He also recalled how much he wanted to pick the brains of these Indian batting mainstays as a youngster. "I remember walking out and looking around the field and seeing all my heroes. I used to love playing backyard cricket as a youngster, and all those guys were in that team that I would try and select. It was Tendulkar and Laxman and Dravid, and it was kind of like, 'How am I here? I'd better start watching the ball and try and compete," said Williamson. "It was quite surreal. I remember being quite eager to try and get into the opposition's dressing room and chat to some of those guys if I could. Then a few grey hairs later and [after] a number of different experiences over that time, there has not been many days - probably any - where I have not tried to improve and get better as a player," he added. Williamson said that in Tests, it is never a perfect journey and picked up the ICC World Test Championship title win as a skipper back in 2021 as a standout moment of his career. "It is never a perfect journey. You go through so much. The format of Test cricket in particular really takes you through that. The learning - physically, [and] mentally - the reflection, [and] the memories of almost every Test that when you sit down and dissect it, there is so much that you do recall," said Williamson. "The Test Championship final [against India in 2021] is something that stands out for a number of different reasons. But it is a journey, and the highlights are not there without the other. They are all experiences that you value and learn from. To perhaps reflect on a hundred of those, it is something I never could have imagined," he added. Williamson said that as a youngster, a player tries to look for something that is "perfect" but there is no such thing like that. He said that he is still learning everyday, with new conditions and opponents in front of him. "When you are younger, you are looking for something that is perfect. And after trying really hard to define something, you realise that you have probably searched in all corners and it does not really exist," said Williamson. "As a player, it is trying to get some clarity on your strengths and your weaknesses, and while putting time and effort into improving those, also accepting that things would not be perfect and it is about how can we be effective. I think trying to help the team move forward is a really motivating factor for me. The art of batting, I am still learning. Every day you have different conditions; you have different opposition," he concluded. (ANI)
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