Ross Taylor excited to be back in the T20I squad for New Zealand

Ross Taylor, the most experienced player in the current team, is all set to make his comeback in the shortest format of the game. He wasn’t included in the T20 squad initially as the youngsters were preferred over him but an untimely injury to Todd Astle has allowed him to return to the setup yet again. Interestingly, the coach Mike Hesson opted to keep him in the group after an impressive in the ODIs. Taylor was the chief architect of the chase at Wankhede in the first ODI and also played a crucial hand in the decider on Sunday.

The three-match T20I series against India will commence on Wednesday (November 1) in Delhi which will also witness an end of a remarkable career of the veteran Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra. Taylor would love to contribute to the cause of the Black Caps and end his exile from the format in the brilliant way. He had last played for his country in the shortest format during the World T20 in 2016 when they lost to England in the semi-final.

Ross is in good form

Ross Taylor notched the scores of 95,21 and 39 in the recently concluded ODI series against the Men in Blue. Hesson feels the same and said that his experience will help them in the middle order during the T20s. “Ross is in good form as well. He gives us another option through the middle order. It’s a real shame for Todd (Astle), but it will be nice to have Ross’ experience in the group,” he said. He was also optimistic about holding onto their number 1 spot in T20Is by the end of the series.

“If rankings are anything to go by we’ve obviously got a chance. We’re No. 1 in the world at the moment (for T20). We’ve got the bulk of the squad we’ve had for a while with some fresh and exciting faces as well. Once again, it’s a tough challenge here playing India in India,” he added. Ross Taylor has so far appeared in 73 T20 Internationals for the Kiwis and has accumulated 1256 runs at a strike rate of 120 with five half-centuries to his name. He would look to add value to the team in his comeback series and clinch the series in the process.

New Zealand T20I squad: Kane Williamson (C), Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (WK), Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.