Taylor looks ahead after sour captaincy saga

A smooth relationship between captain and coach is imperative for a team to move in the right direction. But not always does the duo, at the helm of the team's affairs, get along like a house on fire. Anand Sachar reports.

A smooth relationship between captain and coach is imperative for a team to move in the right direction. But not always does the duo, at the helm of the team's affairs, get along like a house on fire.

At the fag end of 2012, New Zealand coach Mike Hesson wanted Ross Taylor to step down as the skipper in the shorter forms of the game. Unhappy with Hesson's 'lack of support' Taylor decided to relinquish captaincy duties in all three forms.

Brendon McCullum took over as captain. Unhappy with the turn of events, Taylor announced his opinion of the coach to the world. Subsequently, the 29-year-old decided to skip New Zealand's tour of South Africa.

After the New Zealand Cricket Association apologised to Taylor for the way the changeover took place, the right-handed batsman returned to the squad for the home series against English earlier this year.

Though New Zealand managed to draw the Test series and narrowly lost in the one-day games, Taylor claimed that he was still not as 'comfortable' as he would like to be in the Kiwi dressing room.

It has been a torrid few months for Taylor, which comes up prominently when asked about the way things have progressed back home since the controversial sacking. "I would rather not talk about it," he tells HT. "But I'm happy we managed to put up a fight against England."

Taylor decided to avoid any further controversy. "It has been a good experience playing under Brendon (McCullum). I have learnt a lot from him. Hope I can combine with him in the future and help the team win," he explains, on his way to his hotel room.

But the disappointment at not donning the captain's hat anymore is evident. "I enjoyed the extra bit of pressure that came with captaincy. But now I am not, so I try and not think of it," he says adding, "As a captain you have many things to look after. Now I will have to try and get my team out of challenging situations as a batsman. You just have to move on."