Taylor poised to end his Twenty20 exile

Seemingly unwanted by New Zealand for Twenty20s, Ross Taylor is set to end a 19-month exile against India this week.

The veteran batsman, who appeared to have played his last T20 international for the Black Caps, has been recalled for the three-match series, starting on Thursday.

Taylor hasn’t featured for New Zealand in cricket’s shortest form since March 2016 in a T20 World Cup semifinal loss to England. His selection comes after revealing in February he hadn’t been given an explanation by Black Caps management for his T20 non-selection.

After being dropped for the threematch T20 series against Bangladesh in January, Taylor was also overlooked for a one-off T20 match against South Africa in Auckland in February.

The 33-year-old has appeared in 73 T20 internationals since 2006, averaging 24 at a strike rate of 120.

Taylor had a mixed bag with the bat in the 2-1 one-day series loss to India over the past week, notching scores of 95, 21 and 39.

With all-rounder Todd Astle returning home with a groin injury, coach Mike Hesson has done a T20 selection U-turn and opted to keep Taylor in the group.

‘‘Ross is in good form. He gives us another option through the middle order. It’s a real shame for Todd, but it will be nice to have Ross’ experience in the group,’’ Hesson said.

Despite losing the one-day series, New Zealand will head into the T20 matches with confidence given their strong recent record in the format both home and away.

‘‘If rankings are anything to go by we’ve obviously got a chance,’’ Hesson said. ’’We’re No. 1 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.’’

Hesson said they would take several positives from the one-day series defeat. Former one-day opener Tom Latham was outstanding in his new role at No 5, scoring 206 runs from three innings, including a match-winning 103 not out in the first match. Latham also impressed with his glovework.

Henry Nicholls provided some useful cameos in the finishing role late in the innings and the Black Caps’ seamers also performed admirably in challenging bowling conditions.

❚ Latham move B6