Ross Taylor is New Zealand’s third-most successful Test batsman, although he has not reached the heights he was expected to. The 32-year-old’s credentials have taken a beating in what has been a lean tour of India. Making him further uncomfortable is a book by Brendon McCullum in which he has accused Taylor of breeding mistrust in the team when he was in charge.
New Zealand, however, are backing the former captain, saying the revelations won’t have a bearing on how they perceive Taylor’s importance.
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“We haven’t seen anything about that at the moment,” said New Zealand batsman Tom Latham when asked about McCullum’s book.
“I suppose it’s nice for Ross to spend a little bit of time in the middle last game and it looks as though he has come back to his usual self. He’s got a lot of experience and even in the group, there are many with lots of experience and some guys that haven’t played much too,” said Latham.
Despite the team’s best efforts to conceal Taylor’s shortcomings this tour,they have been too glaring to be ignored. He is generally very good off his pads but throughout the tour, India have done well to starve him of those deliveries. When asked to fill-in for an ill Kane Williamson during the Kolkata Test, Taylor didn’t display enough responsibility with the bat when New Zealand desperately needed him to.
{{/usCountry}}Despite the team’s best efforts to conceal Taylor’s shortcomings this tour,they have been too glaring to be ignored. He is generally very good off his pads but throughout the tour, India have done well to starve him of those deliveries. When asked to fill-in for an ill Kane Williamson during the Kolkata Test, Taylor didn’t display enough responsibility with the bat when New Zealand desperately needed him to.
{{/usCountry}}He tends to be on the edge at the start of his innings and that explains why he was dismissed first ball in Dharamsala before consuming 42 deliveries to score 21 in Delhi.
Things were looking up for Taylor in Mohali, where he scored 44 in 57 deliveries, but he was dismissed when New Zealand should have looked to ramp up the scoring.
The biggest mistake happened in the second innings when he dropped Virat Kohli on six. Kohli went on to make an unbeaten 154 before walking off the ground and saying on live TV that he felt sorry for Taylor.
Topping the embarrassment now is this accusation by McCullum. There is only one way Taylor can wriggle out of this situation, and he hopes respite comes soon.