Sad day for Ross Taylor’s fans

After the Black Caps eight wicket win to claim a 1-0 lead in the two match series with Pakistan, it's been revealed that batsman Ross Taylor could miss the second Test in Hamilton with vision problems.

While the loss of Taylor could be a huge loss for the Black Caps batting ranks, it could open the door for a return to the Test side for batsman Martin Guptill.

Although Guptill's place in the ODI side has never been in question, his selection in the longer forms of the game has raised a few eyebrows among New Zealand cricket fans.

Taylor's absence means that Henry Nicholls will most likely move up one place in the batting order to number four, allowing a potential role for Guptill to bat in the middle order.

Since returning from the 3-0 series whitewash in India, Guptill seems to have found form fitting a batsman of his quality playing for Auckland, registering scores of 56, 128 not out and 151 in the Plunkett Shield.

A recall back into the Test side so soon after being dropped might take him by surprise, but this is the chance Guptill needs to re-ignite his Test career.

With New Zealand now only a draw away from what would be a great series win against much higher ranked opposition in Pakistan, the Black Caps need to get their best players on the park for the second and final Test in Hamilton. 

Guptill getting the call up to replace Taylor would surely represent his last chance as a Test match cricketer, and with no other names really standing out in domestic cricket, his selection would be the right call.

It's now on him to come to the party as a middle-order batsman, he has the ability to perform consistently in international cricket and it's due time that he repays the faith shown by the New Zealand selectors in search of an incredible series win.

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