For more than a decade, Kane Williamson has ranked near the top of a select list: of the best three-format players in the world. While keeping his standards in Tests and ODIs formidably high, Williamson has managed to adapt to and succeed in the fast-evolving T20 game. How does a batter deal with the demands of each format and seamlessly move from one to the other? Is it an advantage being a three-format player, as against someone who has been nurtured on a diet of only T20? We posed these and several other questions to the New Zealand batter in a long conversation spread over consecutive days during his time as a TV pundit for the IPL in April.

You played in the Champions Trophy a month ago. Now you are here in India for IPL broadcast work. In the latter half of May, you are going to lead Middlesex in county cricket, and then lead London Spirit in the Hundred. Can you talk about the challenge of playing multiple formats in quick succession like this?
Changing formats, it's so important now, and something that [you need to do] if you are wanting to be in the international game and really wanting to be a part of all these formats. Growing up, I came into the one-day side first. T20 cricket wasn't a big part of the schedule, and Test cricket was a big focus. We used to tour and there'd be sort of six weeks or two months [in which] you'd play your Tests, your one-dayers and your T20s. And that was basically the standard tour. Having to shift between those formats and do it quite quickly was a challenge, but also enjoyable.

I mean, I love the Test game, but also, over the years I've really enjoyed playing the one-day game and really, really enjoyed the T20 game. So, having the balance of them all has been something I've enjoyed.

A) there's a refreshing element to playing a different format, but b), [you are thinking] what are some of those quick adjustments you can make that aren't physical? Because you are not going to get the time and the nets to revamp your game. How do you adjust your mindset to be effective in your role in the three formats?

For example, Test cricket, there's a lot that goes into it, but the challenge is quite internal: it's about self-management, it's how you limit distraction and stick to your plan and have that commitment for as long as you can, despite [knowing] you'll get dismissed. You try and really stick with the process, and ultimately what gives you the best chance. And then you'll go to the next format, maybe two days later. And let's look at the situation that's in front of me and how do I best deal with that? What are my boundary options? So it's really trying to get nice and clear on that as quickly as possible and having that real trust in your game - that when you are making those changes, you can commit and not second-guess it.

Play 04:49

'I feel personally grateful that I was brought up in the red-ball era'

I would say firstly [it is] mental, in terms of getting nice and clear on your approach, to be effective in [a way that is] repeatable, rather than thinking you are going to have to change your game entirely from the Test format to the T20 format to be effective. So actually just some subtle changes in mindset, having that awareness of the situation when it goes from red ball to white ball.

Are you thinking about your next format while you are off right now?
You are always sort of looking ahead at some of the things that you want to be touching on that are important to your game. You might be in a franchise league and then you might go from there to a Test series, so it's bringing out your Test blueprint, the basics, your fundamentals that you can keep coming back to that put you in your best position, and when you are in that best position, whether it's your balance or being able to play the ball a little bit later. From there, with whatever conditions you go into, you can just add some little bits: what are you going to be coming up against, whether it's a high volume of spin or seam bowling or bounce, what are the threats?

Are you doing all this just visualising it or do you actually dig out footage? Is everything in the mind?
It's more internal. It's more in your mind, where you'll sit down and maybe just have a little brainstorm, where you plan ahead. And everybody probably does it differently, but I guess after a number of years you [know], okay, I've been here before, so what are the things I want to touch on, the positions I want to polish? And I sort of know, for me personally, that those positions are important in any format, but they just adjust a little bit [as I] try and look for some more scoring zones in the shorter formats, but [you're] not completely throwing away your Test game, because those foundations are key for any format.

Do you agree that for someone who is vastly experienced, such as yourself, adapting to different formats is probably easier compared to, let's say, for example, Rachin Ravindra, who is just starting his career as a three-format player?
I suppose the more you do it, the more lessons you have. Ultimately [it is] opportunities to try and get an understanding of how you want to do it. And before you get exposed to it [at international level], you are probably playing domestic cricket, which generally is played in windows - you have red-ball [competition] and then you might have your one-day competition, followed by your T20 competition. So there's not a lot of quick crossover that really demands you to change your game and then go back to [the previous] format.

The preparation for switching formats is "more internal, in your mind", Williamson says. "After a number of years you [know], okay, I've been here before, so what are the things I want to touch on, the positions I want to polish?" Mark Brake / © ICC/Getty Images

So you kind of have these focuses at different times. Someone like Rachin, [who is] going and playing a lot more international cricket, is obviously involved in a lot more franchise cricket. He'll be doing that now and sort of getting nice and clear on how he wants to do that.

It's never not a challenge. It's always something, I think, that you have to be aware of and try and make the necessary adjustments because it doesn't matter how experienced you are or how old you might be, you still make errors.

You and your colleagues in the Fab Four, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Joe Root, because you were such good long-format players, you found a way to succeed in T20, whereas right now the jury is still out on a lot of these players who look like outstanding T20 cricketers and seem to have pretty good games, but the challenge is when they tour away, it's not quite working. Do you sense having a "first format" is where you begin to identify whether somebody will succeed in other formats?
I feel personally grateful that I was brought up in that red-ball era. It's still there, but I mean the T20 format is so prominent now, where the volume that you play is so high. So the opportunity to bat long, but also the opportunity to really go through those different problem-solving elements in the game [is not there].

You are playing a game for five days, it challenges you in every aspect, your ability to focus, to be patient, your temperament to adjust a plan… and you can get exposed in a big way in the red-ball game. So you are always trying to problem-solve. And the conditions change a lot more in red-ball cricket. So there's these elements that you don't necessarily get, and certainly not [in the same] volume, in the white-ball game.

The foundation of your game really starts to take shape by, I would say, getting exposed, getting found out, having to force-learn. You are always a product of your environment to a certain extent. So some of the players these days, they're coming up in the T20 realm - which is amazing to watch, the skill sets that we see now, and the power game. But it is different, because it's short and then it's over, and then it's the next and it might be in two days. It starts and it stops. And so players are learning in a different way with the dominance of the T20 game. So changing from that back to Test cricket, I see that potentially could be quite a big shift.

Play 03:25

'In T20 it's how you complement each other with the team you have, the role you have'

Kohli says the same thing each time he's asked when he succeeds in T20 - that playing in Test cricket allows him to adapt to the white-ball formats. So is it easier for someone who's successful in Test cricket to adapt to the white-ball format than the other way round?
I'm a believer of that. I mean, I'm from that school, so I guess that's what I've experienced. Everything's sort of fast now, and it's that instant gratification or social media, whereas when we started, it wasn't quite like that. You invested your time and your passion and your craft, and you saw it in the red-ball game and it was over five days. And I know, probably, a lot of these things that I'm saying aren't that attractive to people that are new to the game, but for us there's a romance to the red-ball game. And the learning as a person through that, where you apply yourself and you try and hold strong for three or four days and wrestle momentum, or the ebbs and the flows, these are some of the parts to the red-ball game that I love.

You clearly talk like a Test romantic. But you have grown up with T20s: you played your first T20 in 2009. How long did it take for you to understand T20 and feel natural batting in it?
I remember when T20 cricket came on the scene, and certainly, everybody was under the illusion that it was going to be for the big hitters and that was about it, and maybe the fast bowlers. Then, all of a sudden, the spinners were amazing, and it sort of [found] its place. So for me, I was involved in a really limited capacity [at the beginning].

I had a lovely traditional offspin action, and so I played sometimes more as a bowling allrounder. Which I didn't particularly enjoy. I wanted to bat, but I also wanted to work out methods to be effective and try and develop my game. And I really enjoyed that and still do.

If you talk about a Test tour in 2015 or 2018 and now, you are essentially speaking a similar language, but talk about the IPL, or T20 cricket, in 2015 or 2018 and now, it seems like a different game. Some viewers might need to be reminded that you were an orange cap holder in the IPL, that you nearly won a title for the second time with Sunrisers when you led them in 2018. And yet six, seven years down the line, we read this in the media so often when it comes to Kohli, Williamson, Smith, Root: Are they T20 players? Do they have the strike rate? Because the language of the game is changing so much. As good a player as you are - and you've also played match-winning innings for New Zealand in T20Is - somewhere does it also sort of get to you, this strike-rate chat? Am I a good T20 player? Am I an imposter in this format?
Because it's new and you are seeing this power game, you are wanting to find your place. And that can vary from team to team [depending on] what role you have, because I still see T20 cricket, out of the three [formats], as probably the most "team cricket" that needs to be played in terms of how you complement each other in the team and how you put together strong performances and repeat that. And I find that really fascinating.

Each time one of the great current Test-first cricketers has a less than stellar run in T20, questions arise about whether they are misfits in T20. "Look, T20 players or not, it's how do you become effective and win games for your team," Williamson says Michael Steele / © ICC/Getty Images

In the red-ball game too, your contribution is to the greater cause, but in the T20, it's with the team that you have, the role that you have - how do you complement each other? I am not going to be hitting the ball like Chris Gayle, and the sooner you accept that as a player - and certainly that was something I needed to accept - the better. You are looking at some of these players and that wow factor [is automatic]. And while it was incredible to watch, you quickly realise that that's something that isn't in your game and never will be. So how do I start looking in the places [to score] that can add to my game and add to generating the strike rate that's required?

There are multiple different ways, and so, just trying to explore that was really important for me. And adding to your game so that you never stop learning. We are playing more and more of that format, and I want to be involved. I still love the game, so I am looking to keep developing different shots. Even at the ripe old age of 34.

The thing with this is, Tim David or Alex Hales or Chris Lynn could have an off T20 season but people will say, "They are still T20 players." But if Kane Williamson or Steve Smith or Kohli has an off T20 season, it's "Oh, are they T20 players?" Don't you think that's a bit annoying?
Yeah, it is what it is. Look, T20 players or not, it's how do you become effective and win games for your team? And that's the focus. Because there are times where an innings might not be on the highlight reel but it's of real value to your team. And sometimes it's really fascinating to watch that. Not all teams have that. And sometimes conditions are totally suited to "Let's hit every ball for six and see where we land." And then there are other times where it has to look a little bit different, depending on conditions.

Your T20 career strike rate is in the 120s. Currently strike rate is such a huge talking point in T20, whether it be with or without an impact player in the IPL, and outside it also. You have played as an anchor batter and you have been successful. Do you think there's a role for that kind of a batter still in T20 cricket?
Probably a little bit more outside IPL. I mean, the impact player is significant. It takes away at times some responsibility of players because they know that they can go out and hit. [Teams] have got so many weapons at their disposal and so they'll keep going and keep going until they get the desired result.

I have never really liked the term "anchor". And the interesting thing about strike rate is, it ignores all context. If it's just a number on a sheet - strike rate, or even an average or whatever it is, [is it valuable] unless there's context surrounding it? To me as a captain, I'm much more interested in individuals moving a team forward and those are the sort of people that I am fond of. And so there are players that will have these strike rates [that might look under par], but are there moments where they've actually increased that? And I think you could say, well there are times [I have done it]. And Virat is another one who's done that. Absolutely. So it's timing.

Play 02:38

'The T20 game has opened people's eyes to other ways of doing it in Tests'

The 2021 T20 World Cup is a good example of that, probably, where you made 85 off 48 balls in the final, which was nearly a match-winning score. Would that be one of the examples of a time when you were in that place where you could up the strike rate? You hit at 170-180.
Probably, for what you are talking about. But what I'm talking about is, I'm trying to play the situation, so I'm not trying to answer the question that you're asking. My focus is, okay, what needs to be done and how do we need to try and achieve it? You are not thinking, "Ah, I need to change something." It's [more] like, "Right, where do we need to be? What do we need to do?" And, therefore, in preparation and in practice, what do I need to keep working on to keep getting better at that?

Moving in and playing the ramp over the leg side was one of the strokes you started playing in T20 a while ago. How long did it take to become comfortable playing that? And when did it become easy?
I quit the idea of thinking that [I] could do it a totally different way, like a Gayle. You stop searching in areas where you won't find answers and go, okay, what are some of the areas that are of strength to me? And then, how do I try and develop them a bit more? Where are some six-hitting zones? And so that was kind of one of [the driving forces], and also, being a slightly shorter player, being able to get low in the crease and maybe use the crease laterally…

So you start brainstorming a little bit and developing areas [to target] or slightly new shots. It's really fun to do as well. Then I like to go [over] cover, so how do I bring in these other options to keep changing the field and then ultimately giving yourself a better opportunity to have a bigger impact.

What about range-hitting? Is that part of your training routine?
Not really. I will try and touch on my power game, and I still want to continue to do that. I actually always find that when I go to training or go to a tournament or change the format, my first net sessions are horrific. Because you might go from Tests or one-dayers into a T20 and everyone's excited and they are just trying to whack it every ball (smiles). You kind of go from one extreme to the next. You then kind of go, ah, actually, it needs to be - I need to use my brain, versus the idea of it all being physical.

It's about problem-solving, stupid: Williamson has added the ramp shot to his armoury in recent years Cameron Spencer / © Getty Images

How do you manage to be at peace with yourself that this is me, this is what I'm doing, my role, I'm confident in this wherever, whatever league I play, whether it's IPL or PSL or international cricket for New Zealand. How do you stay calm and positive that what you are doing is right despite everything that is happening around - like range-hitting, first-ball sixes, strike rates of 150-plus?
It's quite interesting. We talk about some of these big adjustments in strike rates. Say, Virat, I don't even know but you'll know the numbers - in the last two years, what has it been?

150-plus.
And we look at that and say, that's drastic. But it might be the fact that he, potentially, within his own game plan, has gone, okay, I'm going to look to be a little bit more proactive a ball or two earlier [every innings].

Kohli in this year's IPL brought back the slog sweep, a shot that he had gone away from. He used to play offspin down the ground, and suddenly he started playing the slog sweep, which he took out of his game for a few years, but he has now made an adjustment.
That's funny, isn't it? It's kind of a small adjustment versus a big adjustment.

Personally for me [it's about] how do you read the game and the situation and trust that you are looking to be of service to your team? And the hard part is that there are times and there are surfaces, even in T20 - you don't see it too much in the IPL, but there are times where conditions [are such that] they might be 140-winning totals batting first.

Like the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean?
Oh, 100%. And so if we are not willing to remove our ego a little bit to do what the team needs, and be of service, which over there could have been a run-a-ball 30… If we are just victim to the number of the strike rate, then we can lose sight of what's really important.

No rust on this weapon: Virat Kohli has resurrected the slog sweep, a shot he had put away for a while Punit Paranjpe / © AFP/Getty Images

We tend to ask this a lot: will we see all-format players in future? Because a lot of players seem to be content just being great T20 players. Maybe the aspirational ambition is not to play more formats. Do you see the current crop of players not necessarily showing the same levels of self-awareness that your generation had, perhaps not being open to many of the things that you have said? Is that something that the game might see more of?
Possibly. I mean, time will tell. I have no idea. That three-format discussion is an interesting one, too, because without a doubt, the talent that we see now is just incredible. And that's sort of [because of] that diet of T20 cricket. And also the game now is: if someone shows even a moment of potential, there's this noise that surrounds it. Whereas before my time, you'd hear of Mike Hussey's having played ten years of domestic cricket [before breaking through to the Australia side] and just being incredible and having to keep plugging, getting even better, when he was already at that high level. It's a different world.

This multi-format thing - the discussion also goes into, okay, what countries still have large focuses on red ball and where are they turning their focus? And so you might see these multi-format players still, but they are probably more of a case in some countries rather than others potentially.

Martin Crowe predicted in 2014 that you, Smith, Root and Kohli would be generational players. If you look ahead at the next decade, who could possibly be four generational players across formats?
The players that come to mind in terms of multi-format are: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rachin Ravindra, Harry Brook. And also Cam Green. Those are all outstanding players and have shown fantastic moments in all the formats. All young and their games are just growing.

What is a positive that you have imbibed from T20 in terms of skill sets and transferred to your game in Test cricket?
T20 cricket has had an impact, probably on the game in general, in [defining] a new sort of realm of what's possible, whether it's chasing 180 or 200, and the expansion of batters' and bowlers' skill sets. And also the fearless nature of young players coming in now. They come in and they'll hit their first ball in IPL cricket for six, which is kind of unheard of if you go back a few years.

And me personally, definitely it's had an impact. It would probably be more from the skill expansion [point of view] where you'll spend time trying to really develop your game, learn a new shot - whether it's in a tournament or a franchise, whether you are playing or not playing.

Williamson watches from the Sunrisers Hyderabad dugout in 2020. He made over 2000 runs for SRH over eight seasons in the IPL, and captained in four of those years Arjun Singh / © BCCI

What new shot have you added to your range?
Have you not been watching!?

Nah, I mean the reverse sweep.

Joe Root has also started playing a lot more of those unconventional shots, even in Test cricket. Did you have a set of do's and don'ts when it came to Test cricket, which T20 allowed you to change? If you got out playing a funky shot - which was just another scoring option in T20 - in Test cricket, you'd be saying, no way I can do that, I'll look like an idiot. But suddenly you play T20 cricket and you go, this shot is on, even with the red ball. Did T20 help with that thinking?
Yeah, for sure. I mean you build that confidence in exploring those skills and then you start to play them and then you start to bring them into the format, and then you start going, well why wouldn't I? And certainly, with the change of conditions, having a few more options can be really helpful.

It's just general growth and sort of looking to keep moving your game forward. I've personally always been passionate about how you get better. Keep asking yourself those questions. And it's not all just physical, it's that internal, that mental, sort of side of the game where you can bring freedom to what you do, where you can go out and commit to a plan, deal with distraction.

What's your favourite stroke?
Probably the back-foot punch.

A lot of us, especially from the writing fraternity, swoon over your dab to third man. Could you talk about the mechanics of that shot?
I actually remember watching some of the South African batters play it, like AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla. The thing I noticed was them playing that shot against what was kind of the bowler's best ball: hard length, fourth-and-fifth [stump line] and they were able to get one off it. And then if we put a fielder there, that opened up another area. And then we'd go and face their bowlers (chuckles) - Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and the rest. And so I thought I'd like to try and develop that shot.

Made in South Africa: Williamson's dab to third man was inspired by watching some of the great batters of the 2010s - AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla among them - play it Phil Walter / © Getty Images

It actually was not through trying to hit the ball there, but more how you presented your blade. When you played it well, it was a high-percentage option because you're playing a defensive shot to a hard length and by using a straight blade you can run the ball down through gully versus sort of actively trying to manoeuvre the ball, which can get a bit riskier.

Are your wrists very loose on that shot, because you play it so late?
Well, it's sort of more that you leave your hands a little bit behind rather than getting out in front. Obviously if you get your hands out in front, you can't then pull them back to achieve that. So just setting up in sort of the same way as I usually do, but instead of getting here (indicates hands out in front) for the defensive shot in white-ball cricket, just sort of stopping here (indicates hands close to the body), just let the ball run off.

What happens if you don't play that shot? Sometimes such strokes can be release shots for batters. Is it that for you?
A release shot would be probably where you are looking for a real boundary option. Sometimes you can get a boundary, but that's [the dab] more about how you can be efficient at the crease so you are able to keep ticking over and generate a little bit of momentum by accessing different parts of the ground rather than getting stuck on a bowler's good line and length.

Like any shot, some days you play it better than others, and over a period of time sometimes it kind of leaves your game for a little bit and you are accessing different areas.

We spoke earlier about the impact of T20s on Test batting. Has it affected the defensive game, and in what way?
Yeah, I think it can. If you have a big diet of T20 cricket, naturally you are getting out in front, you are trying to power the ball essentially a lot more often. And by doing that repeatedly, day after day, that can kind of creep into your game a little bit. So to go from getting out in front [while] accessing the ball early to then trying to bring your shape back to hitting the ball a little bit later and perhaps playing with a straighter bat versus sort of a full swing - those adjustments can take a bit of time, but they need addressing when you change the formats.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are among Williamson's picks for the top young multi-format players who could make a generational impact © Getty Images

Even injury is another one. I know, for me, when I had my elbow problems, how it affected the shape of what I was trying to do, and probably more so in Test cricket than the other formats. You are sort of getting a little bit more open because you are protecting some part of your body, and that's uncomfortable, and you are trying to kind of work with it as you go and play the different formats.

The footwork is also impacted, right, because in T20 cricket you just stand and you swing?
And you get a bit open sometimes, instead of holding your position, waiting for the ball.

Do we now have to just accept that the defensive part of the game, when people come to play Test cricket, is going to be a little bit weaker compared to maybe ten years ago?
Ultimately it's about problem-solving and working out what you need, the tools that you need, whether it's T20 or Tests, and if you are changing between formats, do I need that defensive game that I can trust? It was a popular thing in years gone by and it's still relevant today, but players are much more comfortable [attacking now]. People say the best form of defence is attack, and you do see that a bit more now with some players. [A batter] will be more inclined to walk down the wicket and do something like hit bowlers off their length. Or they'll try and sit [in the crease] trusting their defence when you are playing the good ball, and then you'll be able to capitalise when they [bowlers] miss. So it probably is changing a little bit.

There's still an awareness that there's a threat, which could be the ball that's moving around, and how they deal with it has changed, but not for everybody.

As we saw last year in the India-New Zealand Test series, even Indian batters don't trust their defence against spin anymore. We are seeing batters who are willing to take down spin, maybe not necessarily because they enjoy attacking spinners but because their defensive skills are not quite there. Do you think that is relevant?
It depends on how challenging the conditions are, because if they are really, really challenging, then sitting there and defending and waiting to be dismissed is less preferable than, okay, if we get 200 or 180 on this wicket, that gives us an opportunity. How we get there - it may not be through defence. On a wicket that you can trust a little bit more, you can bring a game plan where if you do [defend] for a long period of time, that gives you the best opportunity of success.

"The T20 game has opened people's eyes to [thinking] okay, there might be other ways to do it" Mike Egerton / © PA Photos/Getty Images

But sometimes if conditions are extreme, and we actually had a pitch in Bangladesh [Mirpur, 2023] that was extreme and the game was over in about 170 overs and there was no benefit in looking to defend. Because, a), you'd go nowhere, and b), you'd wait for a ball that did something outrageous. Glenn Phillips got 40 in the last innings. We were chasing 130 [137] and there were no promises in that chase. It was one of the all-time great knocks, where he didn't defend off the front foot. Anything full, slog-swept. Anything short, he was efficient.

The T20 game has opened people's eyes to, okay, there might be other ways to do it. Even in that Indian Test series where New Zealand were successful, players weren't looking to defend, they were looking to sweep, reverse-sweep, they were looking to be proactive. They were trying to put the bowler under a little bit of pressure, because basically if the bowler is allowed to [dictate terms] - and the Indian spinners are so good, they are able to just hit an area for long periods - and you aren't able to go anywhere, then the natural thing is to hit.

Bloody-mindedness in Test cricket seems to have gone now. One of the last examples of that we remember was Cheteshwar Pujara against Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins a few years ago in Australia.
It was character. The strength in committing to a plan, right? Versus just looking to [hit out]. I mean, I loved to see that, too. Pujara is one of the best at it with his game: look defensively sound, but willing to stay within that space for days and days and days. It's such a skill and an art, you know.

Do you see a lot of young kids who want to be that kind of a player?
I don't think so. What are we watching? We are watching T20 cricket. Naturally you are a product of your environment

The school of T20: during New Zealand's much heralded Test series win in India in 2024, the batters didn't look to hunker down in response to the spinning pitches, but went on the attack Punit Paranjpe / © AFP/Getty Images

Mental breaks are an important topic now. Moving from one format to another and just not getting to switch off. When Ben Stokes retired in 2022 from ODI cricket, he said: "We are not cars where you can fill us up with petrol and let us go. It has an effect on you, the playing, the travel, it does add up." Do you relate to that?
Yeah, it adds up even more as your life changes a bit and you get a bit older and you might have children, or you might have just done it for a long period of time, and so it does add up and having a bit of a balance is really important. You are a human being at the end of the day and it is important. You prioritise.

Having said that, Stokesy, he retired for about five minutes and in the end he was back (laughs).

Would you prioritise Test cricket over everything if you had to?
Over the years that's absolutely been the case. I still think Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game. We've spoken about it in here, how we fit everything in, how we marry up international cricket, franchise cricket, it's all a part of the picture. And for me now, I am feeling incredibly fortunate to have played all the formats for quite a long period of time.

It's not so much mental breaks but it's more the balance of what I'm doing and where I'm doing it. I have a young family and still love representing New Zealand, and so it's just trying to make that work. And I've been fortunate as well in this last year where I haven't been contracted but worked closely with New Zealand Cricket. They have been really supportive too.

It's also the responsibility of the player, would you agree, how much to play and how to find that life-work balance?
It's not just the idea of burnout. Teams seem to be really aware of that now and try to work with players so that we don't get to that stage. But it's not just avoiding burnout, it's making sure there is time to be a human being and connect with your family, and understanding that balance. And I do think that in general, there's more of an acceptance or openness to that. When that's there, there's less of a chance of burnout.

"The skill set's going to continue to evolve, but how do you put yourself in a space to [take good decisions] for longer periods?" Sanka Vidanagama / © AFP/Getty Images

Is there room for current cricket to take something from 20th century cricket?
The game, it always appears to change a lot and change drastically, but then it's a bit like fashion. This will come back in fashion soon, you know what I mean? (laughs)

There's always, sort of, the knee-jerk reaction to something like there's a 260 [scored in a T20] and the game's changed forever. And then we see that a large percentage of matches and situations haven't actually changed a lot. There's a subtle growth, sort of an upward trajectory, and the boundaries are pushed. But at the end of the day, the skill set's going to continue to evolve, and it has to, but [what stays constant is] the ability to make good decisions. How do you put yourself in a space to do that for longer periods? So all these sorts of things, the inner part of the game, there's going to be similarities forever. We right now look back and you see the game's changed, but still there are definitely similarities to then and now. And I think that will continue.

If you had to tell 25-year-old Kane Williamson something, knowing what you know now, what would you say about what's to come and how to prepare for it?
I would still speak to the foundations. You've got to love it. If you don't love it, you stop it, generally. So you've got to be put in an environment where you can express yourself, explore what you can do naturally. You are going to have failures, successes, you'll go around the world, face different opponents, you get exposed, and what is the thing that you come back to that you feel good about, that your game is an extension of? So it'll be that - those foundations.

Where do you see yourself ten years from now? Have you thought of life after cricket?
A lot. [I haven't thought] specifically in terms of what I will do exactly, but more from the perspective of, like, I am really aware that there comes a time when it ends, and how do you want to be when that day comes is more what I consider. So whether it's chatting to you guys a couple of times or doing other things, I'm not sure yet…

Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo. Raunak Kapoor is deputy editor (video) and lead presenter, ESPNcricinfo

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