On Sunday, experienced New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor admitted that the whitewash by India was disappointing for them. But he believed they played good cricket than the result where they knew it would be tough to win a strong team like India.
“The whole series has been a disappointment, the way we put ourselves in good positions and just were not able to capitalize. When you are up against a world-class side like India, we have played a lot worse and got better results than this,” Ross Taylor said.
“Even though it’s a different format (than ODI and Test), it still does hurt. Winning is a habit and losing those tight games. But we are going into a format that is one of our strengths. In ODI cricket, hopefully, Kane’s shoulder is all right, new personnel and some world-class players coming back and we are looking forward,” he added.
However, he said against India, there can’t be any mistake. Moreover, he praised India for their away series win.
“You can’t give this Indian side an inch, we gave them a lot more than that and they took advantage. You got to learn a lot quicker than we are now with both bat and ball. Until then, we will get similar results,” he shared. “More often than not it is tough to win away from home but to come over here with a couple of their star players missing that would add a different balance to their side. I am sure it is very good for Indian cricket.”
“I probably say this, we were completely outplayed in the series last year and we came back and won that semi-final in the World Cup. Whenever we play India in a T20I game, we know it will be an uphill task but we know we can still beat them when it counts hopefully,” he again added.
Ross Taylor, who smashed 53 on Sunday, said that the target of 164 was easily chasable but the Kiwis failed to do so after losing a few wickets quickly. He even praised the bowling department of India, led by Jasprit Bumrah.
“I thought we were under pressure when I came out there. The way Tim Seifert came out and batted, we got ourselves to what once again would normally be a comfortable scenario with 66 off 60 balls. You win, maybe 95 times (from there),” said the veteran batsman.
“When you got a world-class bowler like Bumrah, you have got to skin the cat slightly differently and he is able to be their X-factor for them. The way (Navdeep) Saini and others bowled put us under some pressure and wickets fell at different times,” he shared.
Both the teams will now play the three-match ODI series and then two Tests. It will be interesting to see how the Kiwis will bounce back.
