India, Sept. 5 -- Ross Taylor, possibly the most decorated T20 player to ever emerge from New Zealand, has decided to come out of retirement and play for Samoa, the country of his mother's birth. The 41-year old, who had ended his international career in April 2022 and thus served a cooling period of three years, is now able to play through his Samoan passport in the nine-team T20 World Cup qualifiers to be held in Oman next month. Three teams will go through to the main tournament, to be held in India and Sri Lanka next year.

The former New Zealand captain announced his decision on social media early on Friday morning. "It's official - I'm proud to announce that I'll be pulling on the blue and representing Samoa in cricket," Taylor wrot...