Blackcaps white ball captain Kane Williamson will require surgery on his injured right knee, after scans on Tuesday confirmed he'd ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.
NZ Cricket said the standard rehabilitation timeframes mean that Williamson is now unlikely to be fit and available for selection at this year's Cricket World Cup in India, which starts in October.
The 32-year-old suffered the injury while fielding for the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, attempting to make a spectacular boundary catch before coming down awkwardly on his knee.
After being ruled out of the remainder of the IPL season, Williamson returned to New Zealand for consultation with specialists, who diagnosed him with an ACL tear. He'll go under the knife within the next three weeks.
After receiving the news, Williamson wanted to acknowledge the support he'd had since sustaining the injury.
"I've received great support over the past few days and want to thank both the Gujarat Titans and New Zealand Cricket for that," he said.
"Naturally it's disappointing to get such an injury, but my focus now is on having the surgery and starting rehab.
"It’s going to take some time, but I'll be doing everything I can to get back on the field as soon as possible."
Williamson will leave an enormous void in the Blackcaps' World Cup squad.
The world's No.2 ranked test batsman has been in vintage form this season, with centuries in consecutive thrillers against England and Sri Lanka, bookended by double centuries against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
