New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Former New Zealand legend and ICC World Test Championship winner Ross Taylor has come out of retirement to represent Samoa at the upcoming Asia-East Asia-Pacific T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifier in Oman in a bid for the nation’s maiden men’s global event qualification.

Taylor was included in the Samoa squad named on Friday morning, the final step in Samoa’s path to ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The Asia-East Asia-Pacific T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifier begins on October 8.

“I’m proud to announce that I’ll be pulling on the blue and representing Samoa in cricket. This is more than just a return to the game love it’s the huge honour to represent my heritage, culture, villages, and family.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to give back to the game, join the squad, and share my experience on and off the field, Taylor shared on Instagram.

Taylor holds a Samoan passport attained through his mother’s heritage, and becomes eligible for his second national team having seen out the three-year stand out period after his last match for New Zealand back in April 2022.

While representing the island nation, he’ll be referred to as Leaupepe Luteru Taylor, his Samoan chief title and first name.

Taylor has been a cornerstone of New Zealand cricket since his international debut in 2006. He bid farewell to international cricket in 2022, having represented the Black Caps more times than any other player — 112 Tests, 236 ODIs, and 102 T20Is.

He stands second only to Kane Williamson on New Zealand’s all-time Test run-scorers list with 7,683 runs and also ranks second, again behind Williamson, with 19 Test centuries.

The right hander also featured across seven IPL and five CPL seasons on the T20 franchise circuit, making close to 5,000 runs around the world.

Taylor joins the Samoans on their final step to Men’s T20 World Cup qualification, with Caleb Jasmat’s side shocking the field in Sub-Regional qualifying, beating off the likes of Vanuatu, Cook Islands and Fiji to claim their spot at the new hybrid Asia/East Asia-Pacific Qualifier.

The Asia-Pacific Regional Final qualification tournament gets underway on October 8.

In a nine-team team affair, Samoa joins Papua New Guinea and Japan as East Asia-Pacific representatives at the tournament, gunning for three T20 World Cup spots in a competition also featuring Oman, Nepal, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar and UAE.

Samoa T20 Squad: Caleb Jasmat (c), 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.

–IANS

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