Out of T20 World Cup Plans and IPL 2026 Auction Contention, but New Zealand Duo Shine in T20 Blast 2025
Veteran New Zealand batters Kane Williamson and Tom Latham have been in fine form in the ongoing T20 Blast 2025 and have played a few terrific knocks. Williamson has been featuring for Middlesex, while Latham plays for Birmingham Bears, and both scored well in their teams’ latest fixtures.
Williamson scored a fluent 63 in just 42 balls, including six boundaries and three maximums, at a strike rate of 150 against Glamorgan. While other batters failed to cross the 20-run mark in the innings, Williamson kept one end tight and scored 47.72% of the team’s runs alone, even though his efforts went in vain.
Meanwhile, Latham cracked a magnificent ton while opening the innings against Derbyshire, scoring 104 runs in 51 deliveries, comprising seven boundaries and eight maximums, at a strike rate of 203.92. His knock helped the Bears post a massive 233/5 in the first innings, and the team later won the contest by a comprehensive 127 runs.
Overall, Williamson has 396 runs at an average of 33 and a 138.94 strike rate in 13 innings, including three fifties, this season. On the other hand, Latham 404 runs at an average of 28.85 and a strike rate of 146.37 in 14 outings, including two fifties and a century.
Why Kane Williamson and Tom Latham won’t play the T20 World Cup 2026 and IPL 2026?
Kane Williamson didn’t accept the central contract and has been featuring in various T20 leagues lately, which means he might not be considered for the T20 World Cup 2026. Additionally, his T20 stocks have reduced, and franchises have ignored him in the IPL lately.
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There are more explosive and high-risk, high-reward batters in the overseas department who can go berserk from the start, so Williamson’s value has not been as high in the previous two seasons. Hence, he might remain unsold again, unless one of the teams opts for experience, which doesn’t matter much in T20s now.
Meanwhile, Latham has not been part of New Zealand’s T20I plans and hardly plays this format for them. He has been a mainstay in the other two formats, but T20 is not his expertise, even if he has performed well lately.
For the same reason, he won’t be picked in the IPL, for better T20 batters who can be dynamic and flexible are available to choose from. Teams can’t afford to use an overseas slot at someone like Latham, whose T20 game is nowhere near what’s required in this format now.
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