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New Delhi: New Zealand's legendary batter Ross Taylor joined the list of retirement reversals players as he announced his comeback to cricket after retiring from the sport in 2022. Taylor will not play for the Kiwis, as he will represent Samoa in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup Asia-East Pacific Qualifier.
Taylor announced his return on social media, as he got the opportunity to play for Samoa due to his mother's heritage. The 41-year-old player completed his three-year standoff period since retiring from International cricket in April 2022 to make himself eligible to play for Samoa.
Former Kiwi batter represented New Zealand for more than 16 years and has a lot of experience to share with the young player, and will definitely add some value to the newly formed Samoan side in the International set-up.
Taylor made 450 appearances across all formats and scored 18,199 International runs. He also lifted the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in 2021. After his retirement, Taylor didn't play much franchise cricket.
"This is more than just a return to the game I love - it's the huge honour to represent my heritage, culture, villages and family," Taylor said on Instagram.
Interestingly, his last appearance in the cricket field was in India, as he played in a tournament called LEGEN-Z T10 in Ghaziabad in August with Indian local tennis players.
The upcoming T20 World Cup in 2026 will feature 20 teams, and three sides from the Asia-East Pacific qualifiers will get the opportunity to play in the mega tournament, which is scheduled to take place in India and Sri Lanka. There are nine teams, including Oman, Nepal, the UAE, Qatar, Malaysia, Kuwait, Japan, and Papua New Guinea, competing in the qualifiers.
Samoa will play two league matches against Oman and Papua New Guinea. If they manage to win those league games, then they will qualify for the Super Six stage, where the top three teams will be directly qualified for the global event in 2026.
This is Samoa's first appearance in the World Cup qualifiers, as they defeated teams like Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, and Fiji to book a spot in the World Cup qualifiers.
Samoa T20 Squad:
Caleb Jasmat, Ross Taylor, Darius Visser, Sean Solia, Daniel Burgess, Douglas Finau, Sam French, Kurtis Hynam-Nyberg, Ben Mailata, Noah Mead, Solomon Nash, Samson Sola, Fereti Sululoto, Saumani Tiai, Ili Tugaga.
