We shouldn’t focus too much on Kohli: Taylor

Napier, January 21 

New Zealand’s senior-most batsman Ross Taylor on Monday urged his team to focus on the Indian top-order rather than “get caught up” with run-machine Virat Kohli during the upcoming limited overs series. The tour starts on Wednesday, with Napier hosting the first ODI Napier. India will be playing five One-dayers and three T20Is against the Black Caps.

Entering the Test series worried about how to decode Kohli, the Australians recently learnt their lesson the hard way as Cheteshwar Pujara stole the thunder Down Under, helping his team to an epic triumph. 

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, (Rohit) Sharma and (Shikhar) Dhawan, before he gets in,” said Taylor.

While Kohli averages a staggering 113 in ODIs in 2018, Taylor’s average is 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.” — PTI