I am still loving the game, want to keep playing, declares Ross Taylor
One of the protagonists from New Zealand's WTC final win against India, Ross Taylor has declared that he's still loving the game and wants to continue playing. He added that after a player reaches a certain age, there are a lot of talks around retirement at any given point.
Veteran Kiwi batter Ross Taylor suffered a lean patch in the World Test Championship. In 12 Tests, he scored 527 runs at 32.93 and couldn't score even a single century. After that, the seasoned campaigner drew criticism for his technique against England. But he shunned all his critics when he played a key role in the tricky chase of 139 against India in the WTC final. He had eased up the pressure with multiple boundaries after India were bowling tightly and, from there on, nothing could come in the way of New Zealand and the WTC title.
With the WTC win, it was expected that the 37-years-old batter will bid adieu to red-ball cricket, if any format, given there is generally this tendency amongst players to finish on a high, and nothing gets bigger than winning the Test championship. Ross Taylor, however, has made it clear that he's not thinking of retirement yet and is loving the game at the moment.
"I'm still loving the game -- still want to learn and get better, so that's a good sign. At this stage I just want to keep on playing cricket, whatever level that is, for as long as I can," Taylor told reporters, reported India Today.
Ross Taylor is the leading run-getter for New Zealand in Tests. The right-hander has scored 7,564 runs in 108 Tests at 45.84 with a total of 19 centuries. He also added that given his age, people talk about him a lot more, but he thinks he's quite able to contribute to his team and the game.
"A lot of players, past players, tell me you're a long time retired, and a lot of them told me they felt like they retired too early. When you come to my age, there's always going to be things said about you, about your age and whatnot," said Taylor.
"It's been the same thing that I've had to deal with my whole career -- but I guess as you get older that's probably an easier thing to attack. But it is what it is, I still love playing the game of cricket, I still feel like I've got something to give to this game, both on and off the field."
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