An unfinished business: New Zealand's another shot at the World Cup title

BY- CHETAN NARULA
After New Zealand beat India by six wickets in their first warm-up game and raised eyebrows across the cricketing world, senior batsman Ross Taylor was quick to brush it off. “It is a warm-up game. It means little for the World Cup and it is about time in the middle for batsmen. You have to take what you can out of it,” he said.

He had uttered that last sentence three months ago too. Back then, India were touring New Zealand and trumped them 4-1 in the five-ODI series. The Black Caps were running experimentation that time, in preparation for the 2019 World Cup. It was no excuse, and the hosts finished second best to the Men in Blue.


For Taylor, that was an ordinary series. Cynics would argue that an average of 44.25, in a series that New Zealand lost without much fight, is a decent return. Indeed, albeit Taylor has been flying high for quite a while now.

You would think that it’s the second wind that batsmen in their mid-thirties seem to pick up. In his particular case, it was an improvement in eyesight.

In 2016, Taylor had suffered a pterygium on his left eye — also known as surfer’s eye, a common eye issue in New Zealand, owing to exposure to sun and high winds. For some time, he ignored the issue and pressed on even if it proved to be a challenging year. At times, he would lose sight of the ball whilst fielding. At other instances, he would see everything well and smack a few runs (highest Test score of 290 at Perth with an injured eye).

Finally, he decided to get surgery done, a decision that stood him in good stead.

Runs flowed from his bat like the Waikato River on a fine New Zealand summer day. Since 2017, Taylor averages 70.96 in 42 ODIs as opposed to a career average of 48.34. It propelled him into the “ones to watch out for at the World Cup” league.

Perhaps the one big loss was in the IPL wherein he was ignored for the last couple years, and not even considered in 2019. Instead, Taylor spent his time playing County cricket, an experienced he hopes holds him in good stead. “Knowing the conditions is important.

Playing for Notts County last year and Middlesex this summer has meant that I have seen the conditions first hand. In 2015, New Zealand made it to the finals because we played a lot of matches at home and knew the conditions.

That helps a lot,” he said. The other factor, of course, is a lack of time. At age 35, Taylor might not get to play another ODI World Cup. Back in February, chatting with this writer, he confirmed that the next two years could be his swansong and thereafter coaching could be on the horizon. ‘The World Cup and the Boxing Day Test at the MCG (December 2019)’, he had outlined as unfinished business.

While Test cricket is far away from anyone’s thoughts at the moment, Taylor is priming himself up well for the summer ahead. 71 runs off 75 balls against India in the warm-up were but the start. The old hand draws inspiration from the format of this tournament alone.

“In the past, with teams divided into groups, you often didn’t get to bat for a few days. Some times you played the weaker teams and the match would end before your turn came. Then there would be long gaps between matches. In 2011 and 2015, I remember going nearly 10 days before batting competitively. This time around, I don’t anticipate such a problem. There is very little gap between matches and all teams in the fray are strong,” Taylor remarked.

It is a run of form that Taylor believes will help him propel his side to yet another top-four finish at the very least. Not to mention, New Zealand are quite good at it, having reached the semi-finals of ODI World Cups in 2007 and 2011 and final in 2015.

Flying under the radar again, can the Black Caps go one step further than they did in 2015?