New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is ruled out of his side's Cricket World Cup opener against England as he continues to recover from a knee injury.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has been ruled out of his side's Cricket World Cup opener against England on October 5.

The 33-year-old was included in the Black Caps' squad despite having not played any cricket since April, when he tore his cruciate ligament during an IPL match.

Williamson will step up his recovery ahead of the tournament in India when he plays as a batter against Pakistan on Friday, before taking a full role in their final warm-up game against South Africa on Monday.

However, New Zealand Cricket have confirmed that Williamson will not be involved in their first game of the World Cup against defending champions England.

"Right from the start we've taken a long-term view on Kane's return to play," head coach Gary Stead said in a statement.

"His recovery is tracking well and it's now a matter of making sure he can cope with the rigours and intensity of international cricket.

"We'll continue to take a day by day approach to Kane's rehabilitation and certainly won't be putting any pressure on him to return before he is ready."

Tom Latham will captain New Zealand against Pakistan, and could also be in line to lead the team against England.

The first game of this year's Cricket World Cup is a repeat of the 2019 final, which England won against New Zealand in the most dramatic of circumstances courtesy of a boundary countback after a super over.

Williamson, who captains the nation's ODI and T20 teams, has played 161 international ODIs, scoring 6,554 runs at an average of 47.83.

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