Kane Williamson ruled out of Kolkata Test with illness

New Zealand suffered a big blow to their pursuit of levelling the three-match Test series against India as captain and star batsman Kane Williamson was ruled out of the second Test in Kolkata with an illness.

Williamson, who missed New Zealand's final training session on the eve of the game on Thursday (September 29), came down with a bug but initial prognosis had suggested that the 26-year-old was unlikely to miss the game at Eden Gardens.

"Kane is a little bit crook today so he won't be training. Hopefully he'll be fine to go tomorrow," Tom Latham had said in the pre-match presser. "There is no discomfort, he is just down with a bug. Nothing too major, he is just resting up and getting right for tomorrow."

However, upon the team doctor's recommendation, the management decided against taking any risks with their premier batsman and opted to leave Williamson out of the playing eleven for the game. Ross Taylor will lead the side in the regular skipper's absence with left-handed batsman Henry Nicholls likely to take up the vacated spot in the eleven.

Williamson's loss will be particularly despairing for the visitors with the New Zealand captain displaying admirable fortitude when faced against India's spin threat in the defeat at Green Park. Williamson top-scored with 75 in New Zealand's first innings and shared a 124-run stand with Latham to put his side on top before India seized the initiative back in the second half of the game.

New Zealand trail the three-match series 0-1. The last of the Tests in the series will be played in Indore starting October 8.