Easy to get caught up about Kohli: Taylor

NAPIER, New Zealand: New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor labelled Virat Kohli as the best one-day player ‘quite easily’, but was wary about his team getting fixated about the Indian captain.

Kohli has been in such stellar form that most opponents readily acknowledge and applaud his batting prowess. Taylor, New Zealand’s second-most prolific run-scorer of all time behind only Stephen Fleming, heaped praise on the Indian skipper as well ahead of their limited-overs series, starting with the first ODI on Wednesday (tomorrow).

But Taylor warned his side against focussing too much about just Kohli, pointing out that India’s batting order is littered with excellent batsmen, not least the openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.

“He’s a sensational player, the best one-day player going around, quite easily,” Taylor told a website. “It’s easy to get caught up in him. (But) you’ve got two pretty good openers at the top, Sharma and Dhawan, before he gets in.”

Like Kohli, Taylor too has been in sublime form, particularly in ODIs. After finishing 2018 as his country’s most prolific run-scorer, he began the new year with a bang too, amassing 281 runs from three digs against Sri Lanka to top the batting charts.

“I’ve played a few internationals now and understand my role in the team,” said Taylor. “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.”

New Zealand were a little worried after Taylor sustained a minor injury, a dislocation of his little finger, ahead of the India series. But Taylor allayed concerns, saying he’s fully recovered. “It’s fine. It looks a lot sorer than it is … no break, but the ligaments were a bit sore,” he said.

Meanwhile, all-rounder Doug Bracewell was looking forward to the challenge of playing the No.2 ranked ODI side in the run-up to the ICC World Cup 2019. “We’re going to find out where we are as a team against one of the best teams in the world,” he said.