Wellington, Feb 12 (IANS): New Zealand and Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson, who has opted against surgery for his long-standing elbow injury and is instead undergoing rehabilitation, is hoping to be fit in time to play in IPL 2022.

Although no timeframe has been set for his return to competitive cricket, the 31-year-old is cautiously optimistic of recovering in time at some point during the white-ball series against the Netherlands in March-April, which could precede IPL, slated to start in the last week of March.

"Last (IPL) season was an example as well, where I wasn't involved initially and it was elbow-related as well. The franchise was great and supportive of it," Williamson was quoted as saying by website ESPNcricinfo.

"I'm optimistic that it will continue to improve. The (T20) format, in particular, is slightly more friendly to manage the load. So, we will wait and see, but it is taking steps forward, which is positive."

The Kiwi skipper also said he is hoping to return to the field as soon as possible.

"All the conversations, certainly with New Zealand cricket and Sunrisers who are aware of this…I've had it (elbow injury) for a long time now, so this period of time is to try and get it right," Williamson said.

"It is progressing… there's still quite a bit of time between now and then, or now and some of the Netherlands games perhaps. There's nothing definite, but I'm hopeful that I'll be back on the field as soon as possible," he added.

Williamson had come into IPL 2021 on the back of the elbow injury in Bangladesh. He was not fit enough for selection in the early exchanges of the first leg of IPL 2021 in India and returned to action for Sunrisers' fourth game last season, against Punjab Kings at Chepauk.

He then replaced David Warner as captain midway through the season after the side suffered five defeats in six games. Sunrisers eventually finished at the bottom, with just three wins in 14 matches last year. The elbow injury had flared up in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in the UAE, where Williamson cut short his stints at the nets to manage the injury.

Later, it troubled him in India as well. He sat out the second Test in Mumbai, with Tom Latham taking over as captain in his place. Williamson subsequently missed the home Test series against Bangladesh and will miss the forthcoming Test series against South Africa as well.

The batter expressed his frustration at the lengthy injury layoff but pointed out that undergoing surgery would be the ''last resort''.

"Cutting it off — thought about it a few times. It has been a very frustrating time really — one of the more frustrating periods in my career," he said.

"From what I can gather and certainly talking to the professionals is that it doesn't promise; it's sort of an absolute last resort and after, if there's a real requirement of rehab and specific loading because it sort of doesn't promise...this (rehab) is without a doubt the more preferred option at this point and hopefully the one that works and gets rid of it. It is tracking in the right direction," he added.