Kane Williamson resigns as New Zealand Test captain, Tim Southee named his successor

Kane Williamson, on Thursday (December 15), announced that he is stepping aside from New Zealand Test captaincy. Williamson has taken the big decision after being in-charge of the Test line-up for more than six years. He, however, will remain the captain of the ODI and T20I side. New Zealand Cricket Board (NZC) has even named his replacement, with pacer Tim Southee set to take over from Williamson in whites.

The 32-year-old Williamson said in a statement, "Captaining the Black Caps in Test cricket has been an incredibly special honour."Meanwhile, Williamson's successor Southee said, "It's been a surreal few days and it's just a massive honour to be appointed as Test captain. I love Test cricket, it's the ultimate challenge and I'm really excited by the opportunity to lead the team in this format."

On the other hand, Tom Latham -- who has led the Kiwis on many occasions during Williamson's Test absence -- has been named as Southee's deputy. The fast-bowling all-rounder has become NZ's 31st Test captain.

Talking about Williamson, he will continue playing all formats and will call the shots in the white-ball forms of the game with the ODI World Cup set to take place later in 2023. His Test captaincy tenure ended with him leadnig the side to 22 wins in 40 games. His biggest moment came when he led the Black Caps to the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) title in 2021. In addition, he slammed 11 of his total 24 hundreds during his captaincy tenure -- a record for a New Zealand skipper.

Southee-led NZ are now gearing up for a three-match Test series versus hosts Pakistan, which will get underway on December 26 in Karachi.