Latham: 'Taylor looks like he's back to his usual self'

Ross Taylor hasn't scored much on this tour. His highest score -- a 57-ball 44 -- came in the last ODI in Mohali. But team-mate Tom Latham believes that the innings will help Taylor regain his form.

Ross Taylor (left) and Tom Latham put on a 73-run stand for the third wicket in Mohali.

A loss away from going back home losing both the Test and ODI formats in its latest India trip, New Zealand is still looking for the cohesion in the performance that could successfully translate its effort into a win. There was a brief while of consolation having levelled the series with a narrow win in Delhi, but the visitor is back in the bunker losing the pervious match at Mohali.

“In cricket you have to learn to adapt to different surfaces. I think we have not assessed ourselves early enough,” said the most successful Black Caps batsman in the current series, Tom Latham.

“I feel it is about getting used to the conditions here as they are so different to the conditions back home,” he added looking for reason behind his team’s poor showing. That was enough to suggest that New Zealand’s preparations for the India tour was not up to the mark.

Latham cited the example of Virat Kohli’s performance to make it clear where his team, especially its batting, has faltered so far. “You need those big hundreds if you want to win. Look at what Virat (Kohli) did the other night. He got into a position and won the game (for India),” Latham said. “Hopefully, I am able to put up a big score,” Latham, who aggregated the highest 186 runs with an average of 93 for the visitor so far, said ahead of the team’s fourth ODI outing here on Wednesday.

Latham also stood alongside the former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor , who has been struggling for form. This happens after Taylor has been derisively referred to by his former team-mate Brendon McCullum in his autobiography. Apart from his poor form with the bat, Taylor also drew in some criticism for his fielding when he dropped India’s most consistent Indian batsman Virat Kohli at the score of six in Mohali before the latter went on score an unbeaten 154 and win the match.

"I suppose it was nice for Ross to spend a little bit of time in the middle in the last game (at Mohali) and it looks as though he has come back to his usual self,” said Latham about his senior teammate. “Ross has got a lot of experience. In the team there are many with lots of experience and there are some guys who have not played much. Hopefully if we put the right performance as a team,” he added.

Hardik Pandya, who made his ODI debut in Dharmashala, said he was learning a lot in the company of great players like the captain M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli. “There is a lot to learn when both of them play. Their batting, running between wickets inspire us. It is at another level,” Pandya said looking for another win.