Outplayed and outclassed on their tour of Australia, Ross Taylor and New Zealand are feeling a lot more confident welcoming Virat Kohli’s India for five Twenty20s, three ODIs and two Tests, beginning January 24.
The focus for the losing finalists of the 2019 World Cup however will be on white-ball cricket as the Tests are a fair few weeks away.
“We were completely outplayed in all facets of the game throughout the whole series, but now we’re back on home soil and India will be a totally different opposition. They’re the No 1 team in the world, but we’re obviously in conditions that we know, so let’s get through the white-ball phase first before we get on to talking about that,” Taylor was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz
The senior batsman remarked that the shortest format of the game had progressed quite rapidly since the inaugural World Cup in 2007. He is the only surviving member from that side.
“Not a lot of people knew what to expect in the first World Cup in South Africa in 07, but it’s grown a lot. Obviously the IPL came along not so long after.
“Quite often you used to play one, maybe two games, now we’ve got a five-match series. The game’s evolved and the shots that the men and the women are playing make it exciting for people to come along and watch.
“There’s been a lot of talk in recent times about [the future] of test cricket and one-day cricket and Twenty20. Hopefully there’s room for all three and Twenty20 for the next five matches anyway will be exciting and the New Zealand public will be looking forward to a good series.”
Like India, New Zealand will also play a whole host of Twenty20 games in the lead up to the World Cup in October. The five against India will be the first of 21 games.
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