'Ross Taylor Might Know More Than Me But...': Kane Williamson Clears the Air on Neil Wagner's 'Forced Retirement'

New Zealand’s ace batter, Kane Williamson has refuted the statement made by his former teammate, Ross Taylor claiming that the retirement of Neil Wagner was a move forced on the player.

Speaking ahead of the second Test against Australia at Christchurch, Williamson during the press conference said, “[Taylor] might know more than me, I’m not sure. But I see guys that are giving everything, trying to get better as a team, trying to move the team forward and that’s a focus for us”.

“I don’t think anybody is forced to retire. I think he had a fantastic week and it was reflecting on what was an incredible career,” added Williamson.

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The former skipper also highlighted the side giving importance to the dressing room culture. The batter commented, “Yeah, quite good,” Williamson said.

“Something that we’re always trying to improve and evolve as a team. And it’s something we’ve tried to do for years. You always have different transitions and players come and go, support staff come and go,”

Following the loss in the first Test, Taylor made a big claim where he suggested that the retirement of Wagner was a forced decision which lit the spotlight on the Kiwi dressing room.

Wagner also had appeared in the previous Test as a substitute fielder and took a catch. When celebrating the fast-bowler had made a ‘shush’ celebration as well which fuelled the rumours about the unrest.

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The 33-year-old cleared the air on the incident. He said, ”That was banter in the dressing room with Waggy and his fielding so he ended up putting him down at fine leg. So to get a catch was quite amusing. So Waggy took his opportunity. I think he thinks that obviously out of context [and] it doesn’t look great, but it was a little bit humorous at the time and all the players understood the context”.

It remains to be seen whether the pacer will make an appearance in the upcoming Test with the NZ bowling attack looking well short of their best.