Kane Williamson retires from Twenty20 internationals

Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson introduced his retirement from Twenty20 internationals on Sunday (November 2, 2025), however he’ll play for the Black Caps within the take a look at collection towards West Indies.

The 35-year-old batsman has performed 93 T20s for his nation since making his debut towards Zimbabwe in 2011, captaining the facet on 75 events and main them to the World Cup closing in 2021 and semi-finals in 2016 and 2022.

“It’s something that I’ve loved being a part of for a long period of time and I’m so grateful for the memories and experiences,” he mentioned.

“It’s the appropriate time for myself and the workforce. It provides the workforce readability for the collection transferring ahead and forward of their subsequent main focus which is the T20 World Cup.

“There’s so much T20 talent there and the next period will be important to get cricket into these guys and get them ready for the World Cup.”

He scored 2,575 runs in T20 internationals with 18 half centuries, together with his 85 in a shedding trigger within the T20 World Cup closing towards Australia in 2021

New Zealand cricket mentioned Williamson, who not has a central contract, was open-minded about his future in one-day internationals and would positively play within the three-test collection towards West Indies in December.

“Kane’s performances as a player and his service as captain of the T20 side have been nothing short of immense,” mentioned NZ Cricket chief government Scott Weenink.

“His runs in all situations all over the world replicate the world class batsman that he’s and are equally matched by the affect of his management on and off the sphere.

“With Kane committed to play the West Indies test series in December, I’d encourage all Kiwis to take the opportunity to get out and witness one of our greatest ever cricketers play.”