“It’s a shame for us. He is a big player”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

New Zealand left-arm seamer Trent Boult has admitted that veteran batsman Ross Taylor’s calf injury “doesn’t look too good”.

Taylor, who will undergo a scan on Friday, sustained the injury while running between the wickets in the 43rd over of New Zealand’s first innings against South Africa on the second day of the first Test in Dunedin.

The 33-year-old looked in a lot of pain and hobbled off the pitch as runners are no longer permitted in international matches.

“It’s a shame for us. He is a big player,” Boult said. “He is obviously disappointed. The way he walked off, it doesn’t look too good. We will see tomorrow.”

It remains to be seen how serious Taylor’s injury is, but early reports indicate that it could be a torn calf muscle.

Should that be the case, Taylor would be ruled out for the rest of the Test series and it was believed that opening batsman Martin Guptill would be called up as his replacement.

However, Guptill will be sidelined for the next six weeks as he aggravated the two hamstring injuries that ruled him out of the first three ODIs against South Africa.

With Guptill out of action, Dean Brownlie and Neil Broom are the two candidates that are likely to take Taylor’s spot in the squad should he be ruled out for the second Test or the rest of the three-Test series.