Taylor's form a huge letdown

In the one-dayers, however, the Kiwis have come a cropper mainly because they haven’t put enough runs on the board. Ryder is back home injured, McCullum missed the first two matches through injury and Williamson has spent long periods in the middle without too many runs to show for it.

Easily the batting bulwark of this New Zealand side, Taylor has been the big letdown thus far. He began the tour promisingly with 56 in the first innings in the first Test in Ahmedabad, but that remained his only half-century in the Test series as he finished with just 136 runs at a disappointing 27.20.

The 26-year-old made a promising start to the one-day series too with a sparkling 66 in game one in Guwahati, but two subsequent hits have yielded only 19 more runs. New Zealand haven’t found anyone else that has stepped in and filled the breach; skipper Daniel Vettori is now left hoping that Taylor will hit his straps upon his return to a venue where he has had success in the past.

The Chinnaswamy stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the right-hander, who had the fans eating out their hands during IPL III and in the first Champions League with his clean, crisp, uninhibited hitting. Easily the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s most popular overseas signing, Taylor will have his first taste of being in the opposition at his adopted home, but he can rest assured he will not face a hostile audience.

Vettori harped on Taylor’s familiarity with the Chinnaswamy stadium when he joked, “I will give Ross till 2.30 tomorrow to make the decision (on how he thinks the pitch will behave)!”

The Kiwi skipper, however, was deadly serious when he was asked if more than the lack of runs, he was worried with the manner of Taylor’s dismissals -- ill-advised strokes at inopportune moments. “People expect so much from Ross because he has a good record and has performed so well for a long time,” Vettori sprang to his deputy’s defence.
“When he is going through a bad run, I suppose it sort of exemplifies shot-selection or lack of runs. We are hopeful... Ross feels comfortable coming here to Bangalore, and we hope this is the real turning point for him in the series.”