|| India Correspondent ||

New Zealand's all-format captain Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh due to a left elbow injury. He has to rest and rehabilitate from his injury during the series which will start on March 20 in Dunedin. However, the captain has a small tear in his left elbow tendon and he has been experiencing irritation because of it as well.

However, NZC medical manager Dayle Shackel has confirmed that Williamson was playing with the injury and was managing it throughout the summer, but no improvement was shown and because of that he needs some time to rest and rehabilitation.

"Kane's been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn't improved," Shackel said. "He obviously has a high volume of training and playing across the three formats, which has inhibited his ability to recover. We believe he now needs a period of rest and rehabilitation to get the injury right."

"Time-frames can vary but we're hopeful that, after an initial rest, he should be able to begin rehabilitation next week," Shackel further added.

Meanwhile, New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has shared that the decision was quite difficult for Williamson to take a rest, but he decided to take this step keeping the busy schedule throughout the year in mind. However, New Zealand will hope for him to be back soon as they travel to England for a two-match Test series in June, followed by the World Test Championship final against India from July 18 as well.

"Kane loves playing for his country - so it hasn't been an easy decision to step back," Stead said. "A batsman's front elbow is crucial to his game and with the injury not improving it was clear something needed to be done."

"We've got a huge year of cricket ahead with an England Test tour and ICC World Test Championship Final first up in May and June [June and July], and we want to make sure we have Kane fit and firing for that," Stead again shared.