Cricket News : Kane Williamson wasn't surprised at being released by Sunrisers Hyderabad

Kane Williamson announced his desire to continue playing in the IPL the day after Sunrisers Hyderabad dismissed him, adding that he will "wait and watch" with the December 23 auction.

When questioned about whether he had been contacted by other teams, the New Zealand skipper remained silent. Following their eighth-place result in the IPL 2022, the Sunrisers discharged 12 players, including Williamson, who served as their captain.

They now have the greatest budget (INR 42.25 crore) for the player auction the following month.

"No, not really," Williamson said when asked if being released by a team he captained would make him reconsider his T20 future. "There are a lot of competitions around the world, and the IPL is certainly an amazing completion to be a part of. You see players play for different teams all the time. There are a lot of options, lot of cricket, so for me, I love playing all formats."

Williamson said the Sunrisers management had spoken to him about their decision "a few days ago"

"That's the way it goes, I had a really enjoyable time at SRH, I have a lot of fond memories,"

he said.

"It wasn't a surprise when it [retention list] was officially released."

Following a dispute with David Warner the previous season, the Sunrisers elected Williamson their permanent captain ahead of the IPL 2022 season. They then kept him for INR 14 crore, making him their most expensive player. Despite winning five straight games in the early half of the season, they only won six of their 14 games.

Williamson struggled to find his swing in IPL 2022, scoring just 216 runs in 13 innings while dealing with an annoying elbow problem. His strike rate of 93.50 was the lowest of any batter who faced at least 100 balls during the season.

Williamson played for the Sunrisers for eight seasons in all, scoring 2021 runs with an average of 36.22 and a 126.03 strikeout percentage. In 46 of the 76 games he participated, he led them as their captain.

Their finest result under Williamson's direction was finishing second in the 2018 IPL. He had a season in which he amassed 735 runs at an average of 52.50 and a strike rate of 142.44, making him the IPL's most productive batsman.

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