Adam Parore: Taylor ton not key to captaincy bid

Ross Taylor's terrific century against Pakistan was great for him and, by extension, New Zealand. But should it have any bearing on the captaincy debate? No.

Either Taylor or Brendon McCullum will succeed Dan Vettori after the World Cup. I'd back McCullum, but any suggestion Taylor's hundred significantly swings the argument his way is wrong.

The two issues - the century and the captaincy - are completely unrelated and irrelevant.

Taylor needed runs from a personal point of view, and New Zealand benefited. His problems of late with the bat have been well documented, so his timing in producing a big, match-winning innings was impeccable.

No matter how good a batsman is, his standing is weakened the longer he goes without runs. In that, Taylor is no different.

If he stops scoring, sooner or later he won't be selected. His confidence grew against Pakistan the longer he was in and few players are capable of doing what he did in the final stages, as New Zealand took 100 off the last five overs.

The argument that the top four batsmen can decide ODIs was shown in a strong light. If they make big runs, it makes life easier, not only for bowlers in defending a target, but also the other batsmen, who can get the positive spinoff.

Take Jacob Oram and his 23 from just nine balls. He got a helping hand from Taylor's hitting at the other end. Taylor put pressure on the Pakistan bowlers and so the impact came not just in the runs Taylor made but the opportunities he set up for the other batsmen as the bowling became ragged.

If your top four batsmen make more runs than the opposition, you will win more often than not. Simple as that. For a decade Nathan Astle did an outstanding job for New Zealand opening in ODIs. He made 16 hundreds, eight more than Stephen Fleming, the next best.

That period was perhaps the best New Zealand have ever enjoyed in ODIs, and a large part of that goes back to Astle.

I'd hate to think Taylor's century should influence the captaincy issue.

It would be better to leave Taylor alone for another couple of years to focus on making runs. He'll get to the captaincy at some point without a doubt, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to appoint him.

New Zealand will beat Canada tomorrow and will feel confident against Sri Lanka next week. Win both those, and they take some momentum into the quarter-finals. You don't win the tournament without it.

It is a vital component and a team cannot triumph by stuttering their way towards the final.

New Zealand will be relieved that Vettori's knee injury should not prevent him returning later in the tournament.

I can't see New Zealand progressing deep into the Cup without him.

The task would become significantly harder and there's already enough hurdles to clear without putting another one in New Zealand's path.