Ross Taylor is the second-best player after Virat Kohli since World Cup 2015

While the fans have been bragging about Rohit Sharma being the second-best after Virat Kohli in ODIs in recent times, the stats don’t agree with the same. A veteran cricketer, who largely goes unnoticed about his work, has been making rapid strides in ODI cricket at 34 years of age. Ross Taylor has taken his game to the next level since the World Cup 2015 and stands next to Virat Kohli as per the stats.

Since the previous edition of the cricket carnival, the Indian skipper scored 3848 runs in 61 innings at an average of 82. He leads the highest run-scorer charts by a significant margin and Ross Taylor is the only man who is anywhere close. The Kiwi middle-order batsman piled up 2580 runs from 51 innings at 69.72. In the few aspects, Taylor also managed to eclipse the genius of Virat Kohli.

An impeccably consistent performer

No other batsman in the defined timeframe has been as consistent as Ross Taylor. The right-hander, in the last 12 innings, failed to go past 50-run mark only twice. His last six scores stand as 137, 90, 54, 86*, 80, 181* which is truly mindboggling. Taylor also surpassed his skipper Kane Williamson in terms of the runs that he scored and the consistency on display.

Even though Kane is considered to be one of the best batsmen around at the moment, he is also taken aback with the brilliance of the veteran. The difference of average between these two batsmen stands at 21 currently which is a testimony of Taylor’s class. But, what has led to this massive change in the numbers since the World Cup 2015?

The eye operation does the magic

“The eye operation’s probably played a bit of a part in reading spinners out of the hand,” said Taylor as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. “I was never a fan of day-night games before that. I hated batting under lights. I always found spinners and people who bowled change of pace quite hard to pick up because of my eye. Since then I’ve been able to see it.

“Two weeks after the operation, I had throwdowns with the trainer, and I saw the ball swing from the hand. I thought: ‘Geez, I haven’t been able to see that for a while!’ I don’t know when I started not seeing the ball as well as I used to. All I do know is that felt I was always playing very late at the start of my innings.

“I just felt like I was a nervous starter anyway, but I felt like I was lining the ball up and just missing. It’s a strange feeling as a batsman – when you’re in good positions and you end up not hitting the ball. I probably should have had the operation years ago,” said Taylor.

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