Guptill's ODI heroics not enough to earn him Test recall, says Hesson

Johannesburg [South Africa] Mar. 2 (ANI): New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson has insisted that swashbuckling opener Martin Guptill would not be able to make a comeback to the Test side, despite his record-breaking performance in the fourth ODI against South Africa. Guptill played a ferocious knock of unbeaten 180 off 138 balls as New Zealand defeated Proteas by seven wickets at the Seddon Park in Hamilton on Wednesday, thus leveling the five-match series 2-2. Guptill's 180 is the highest-ever score by a New Zealander against the Proteas. Acknowledging Guptill's 'exceptional' knock but said that the swashbuckling opener had already been tried at the Test level and was found wanting. "He's not in the Test side, I think you've probably got to look at Martin's record at the moment and make that decision," Sport24 quoted Hesson as saying. "There's plenty of examples around the world of players who have been extremely good at one format and not the other, hence there's three different formats," he added. The 30-year-old has scored 5,230 in 141 ODIs at an average of 43.98. But when it comes to the longest format of the game, Guptill has scored just 2,586 runs in 47 Tests at 29.38. Guptill was dropped from the Test squad after last year's tour of India, where he managed only one half-century in six innings. The New Zealand head coach, however, stated that owing to his performance in domestic cricket, Guptill might get a chance to revive his Test career as a middle-order batsman, rather than an opener. "We've decided the middle order's the place for him to push his case," he said. The ODI series between the Black Caps and Proteas is now squared at 2-2 and the two teams will now face each other in what could be anticipated as another thrilling encounter in Auckland on Saturday. (ANI)