Taylor welcomes change of format
Black Caps’ focus now on India
The Black Caps were back together yesterday for the first time since they left Australia, hoping a change of format and a change of opponent will lead to a change in results.
As senior batsman Ross Taylor acknowledged, they were ‘‘completely outplayed’’ in their three tests across the Tasman, which included rare appearances in the Boxing Day test in Melbourne and the New Year’s test in Sydney.
But now they’re back on home soil, they’re facing India instead, and first of all they’ll be playing Twenty20, starting this weekend in Auckland, with the opening contests in the five-match series scheduled for Friday and Sunday night at Eden Park.
Taylor said there had been some reflection on what went wrong in Australia, but with the test series against India not starting until the end of February, white-ball cricket had been the team’s immediate focus.
‘‘We had a quick debrief afterwards, but we’ve still got a few more weeks before the test-match series and a lot of injuries that will hopefully heal in time.
‘‘It didn’t go as well as we would have liked, 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.’’
The Black Caps will be back in Australia in March, for three oneday internationals, but also in October, for the first Twenty20 World Cup in four years.
While there have been five different champions across the six editions so far, Kiwi sides have only made it as far as the semifinals, the first time around in 2007 and last time out in 2016.
Taylor is the only survivor in the current team from the inaugural event in 2007 and he said the game’s shortest format had gone from strength to strength since.
‘‘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.
The Black Caps had a strong year in Twenty20 in 2019, beating Sri Lanka in a one-off match at home, India in a series at home and Sri Lanka in a series away, before losing a series at home against England only in a Super Over, to finish with a 7-4-1 record.
Friday’s series opener is the first of 21 matches they have scheduled between now and the World Cup, including three against Australia to end the home summer, so there will be no danger of them going in underdone, as they look to be finalists for the first time.