Ross Taylor says his greatest achievement in cricket is his development from a short-form basher to a top-class Test cricketer and world Test champion.
The 37-year-old Black Caps legend announced on Thursday he would retire from international cricket at the end of this summer.
He will retire as New Zealand's leading runscorer in both Tests and ODIs, while he will equal Daniel Vettori for most Test caps for the country when he takes to the field in his final game at Hagley Oval next month.
The Black Caps legend will bow out of the international game at the end of the summer after a magnificent 16-year career. (Source: 1News)
At a media conference at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval on Thursday, Taylor said he was proud of his long Test career that he thought would be over before it begun.
"I was probably happy to have played one game [of Test cricket], so to have played 110 or so I'm pretty happy with where I'm at.
"After my first Test series, I thought that was me done, but I've done alright since then," Taylor laughed.
That first series - away to South Africa in 2007 - was a brutal welcome to Test cricket for Taylor.
New Zealand failed to score 200 in any of their four innings across the two Tests, with Dale Steyn in his prime taking 20 wickets and Taylor scoring just 44 runs.
But a brilliant hundred in his next Test against England in Hamilton later that summer began a legendary career in the long format that saw him surpass Martin Crowe for most centuries for New Zealand, and later Stephen Fleming for most runs.
Reflecting on his career, Taylor said the achievement he was most proud of was being able to turn himself into a Test cricketer.
"I think I was pretty raw. I always thought I could play one day cricket but I wasn't a hundy [per cent] on whether I would be a good Test player or not.
"I worked hard on that and I think that's probably my biggest achievement. I could've just smacked it and averaged 30-odd but I changed my game for the team. Not many people would've been able to move their game in that direction, and I'm happy I made that decision a few years ago."
His record-breaking Test career, that has seen him score 7584 runs at an average of 44.87, culminated earlier this year when he hit the winning runs for the Black Caps in the World Test Championship final against India in England.
"I never thought I'd get to play in another World Cup final and to hit the winning runs, be there with Kane [Williamson], and to win our first World Cup, I think that was pretty cool."
Taylor will play his last Test at Christchurch's Hagley Oval against Bangladesh next month, opting out of the South Africa series later in the summer to instead travel with the ODI side across the Tasman to play Australia.
"The Australian series is really close [to the South Africa series] and with quarantine and what not, it's probably going to be two sides - one that goes over [to Australia] and the Test side stays behind [to play South Africa]," Taylor said.
"Going over and playing a few more one dayers to finish my career, it's probably my best format, that's what made my decision a lot easier."
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