New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor on Monday urged his team to focus on the Indian top-order rather than “get caught up” with skipper Virat Kohli during the upcoming limited-overs series.
The tour starts on Wednesday in Napier with the two sides facing off in five One-day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals.
Entering the Test series worried about how to decode Kohli, the Australians recently learnt it the hard way as Cheteshwar Pujara stole the thunder Down Under, helping his team to an epic series win. Taylor doesn’t want his team to follow a similar approach.
“He’s (Kohli) a sensational player, the best one-day player going around, easily. It’s easy to get caught up in him. You’ve got two pretty good openers at the top – Sharma and Dhawan – before he gets in,” Taylor was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.
Taylor had his first net session at the McLean Park after his finger injury during the home series against Sri Lanka. While Kohli averaged a staggering 113 in ODIs in 2018, Taylor’s average was 92 in the same period across 13 ODIs.
“I’ve played a few internationals now and understand my role in the team. I’ve worked on my game and try and rotate the strike early and be as busy as I can. Different shots against spinners at different stages have maybe evolved my game in a positive way,” Taylor said. “But you’re still human and you still have to start again, and it’s exciting against India.
