New Zealand's veteran batter Kane Williamson has joined the Lucknow Super Giants as a strategic advisor ahead of the IPL 2026. Earlier this year, Williamson played for Durban Super Giants, the Sanjeev Goenka-owned team in the SA20 league.

Williamson was one of the five New Zealand players, who decline central contracts so that he could be a part of other T20 leagues around the world. The former captain hasn't retired from the format yet and has committed to being available for New Zealand for next year's T20 World Cup.

LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka took to X on Thursday (October 16) to confirm the addition of Williamson to LSG’s setup.

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Kane has been a part of the Super Giants family and it’s an absolute delight to welcome him in his new role as Strategic Advisor for @LucknowIPL. His leadership, strategic insight, deep understanding of the game, and ability to inspire players make him an invaluable addition to… pic.twitter.com/80EGl4SrmA

— Dr. Sanjiv Goenka (@DrSanjivGoenka) October 16, 2025

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He posted a picture of Williamson and captioned it, "Kane has been a part of the Super Giants family and it’s an absolute delight to welcome him in his new role as Strategic Advisor for @LucknowIPL. His leadership, strategic insight, deep understanding of the game, and ability to inspire players make him an invaluable addition to the team."

In another major change, Carl Crowe, who has previously been associated with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, will likely be the team's spin bowling coach. Earlier in July 2025, former India bowling coach Bharat Arun was also signed by the Rishabh Pant-led side as the new bowling coach. Prior to joining LSG, Arun was associated with KKR as a bowling consultant for four years.

Williamson’s record in IPL (as a player)

Williamson has played a total of 79 matches in the IPL, having played for only two teams during his career, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans. He amassed a total of 2128 runs. He made 76 appearances for the Orange Army from 2015 to 2022 and scored 2101 runs. He is still their third-highest run getter in the IPL.

Under Williamson’s captaincy, SRH finished as runners-up in IPL 2018, and that season, he also won the Orange Cap for scoring 735 runs in 17 matches.

In T20Is, Williamson has scored 2575 runs in 93 matches. He last played in the shortest format of the game for Black Caps in the 2024 T20 World Cup.