ICC World Cup 2019 | Pressure comes with it whether you think about it or not, says Ross Taylor

In the form of his life, Ross Taylor is one batsman every bowler out there will be wary of. Though he has had a long career having made his debut way back in 2006 against the West Indies, he is currently enjoying his best patch as an ODI batsman, having scored 2,200 runs since the start of 2017 at an astounding average of 71, while scoring a career-best 181* in the meanwhile. The World Cup, however, is a different ball game altogether and he admitted that the pressure of playing in a large scale tournament such as this is a part and parcel of the job, but it won't prevent his team from trying to go all the way.

"My approach to the World Cup is not necessarily a mindset of going out there just to enjoy it. You always put a lot of pressure on yourself in big tournaments - pressure comes with it whether you think about it or not, so it's about managing those moments," he said in an interview with ICC.

Though he is 35 years old, he has shown no signs of stopping and it would be a shame to even think of him retiring when he is in such a golden touch. With players like Tendulkar and Gayle having played World Cups in their late 30s, Taylor feels he might have it in him for one tournament.

"I'm 35 but you never really know what's to come. Chris Gayle is probably an inspiration - he's 39 in this World Cup and I'm 39 at the next, so it's not a simple matter. You never know, this will probably be my last World Cup but if these hamstrings and calves hold together then maybe I can be back in a few years," he remarked.

On Saturday, New Zealand registered a comprehensive win over the Indian team, beating them by six wickets in what was throughout a one-sided affair, as Ross Taylor high scored with 71 runs off just 75 balls. However, he didn't make much off the win, dismissing it as insignificant considering it was just a warm-up game and not a real indicator of anything.

"When it comes to a warm-up you just treat it as that and then get out of the game what you want to get out of it. For us, we haven't played as a team for two or three months, so it was about going out there and testing our skills out against the best," Taylor explained.

In the 2015 World Cup Down Under, New Zealand had their best ever run in a 50-over ICC tournament, as they went all the way to the final beating teams such as South Africa, West Indies, England and Sri Lanka on the way, only to end up losing the final to the five-time champions Australia. While last time wasn't easy, Taylor believes it would be even harder this time around.

"It's going to be a lot tougher, making the final four years ago we played a lot of games at home and we knew our conditions very well. If you get off to a good start and get onto a roll, you can get into those semi-finals and suddenly you're only two wins away from winning it," he concluded.

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