New Zealand’s Test great Ross Taylor has revealed that he had already decided to call time on his 16-year-old international career last year ahead of the second and final Test against Bangladesh at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, starting on Sunday, January 9.
Taylor, New Zealand’s all-time leading Test run-scorer with 7655 runs, will end his decorated 15-year Test career after the second Test against Bangladesh in Christchurch. It will be Taylor’s 112th test, equaling Daniel Vettori’s record as the most-capped Test player in New Zealand history.
Well, New Zealand’s defeat in the first Test may have marred Taylor’s farewell Test series, but the retiring batter said that the shocking defeat was a massive boost for the game and Test cricket, while he was hoping to end his Test career with a final win in Christchurch.
Taylor stated: “We were outplayed the whole time. But for this game of Test cricket to survive we need Bangladesh to be a thriving nation and I think they will get a lot of confidence from that.”
The right-hander wants to sign off his Test career with a victory in the second Test against Bangladesh. He added, “We're one-nil down, we know we have to play some aggressive cricket, but it's also a ground that we know how we're going to play and we have had a lot of success here.”
On the Hagley Oval wicket, the 37-year-old said: “I just asked is it a normal wicket and he said 'yes'. 'Normal' at Hagley Oval means very green and winning the toss means bowling first. The bowlers will be licking their lips and our batters need to apply ourselves better than we did at the Mount.”
He added, “I think these conditions will suit us a lot more than they did at the Mount. We know what to expect and that's the positive about being at home and on a ground where we've played a lot of cricket on.”
Notably, New Zealand has a great record at the Hagley Oval, winning six of their eight Test matches with a one-drawn result, but they lost Brendon McCullum's farewell game against Australia in 2016.
McCullum had smashed the fastest Test century off just 54 balls and went on to make 145 from 79 deliveries in that match, and Taylor admitted that it would be hard to emulate.
He signed off by saying, “He's set the bar very high. It would be good just to have a win. I don't think there's going to be many people who are going to be able to do what he did in his last match.”
(With AFP Inputs)
