Describing his fallout with Ross Taylor a "bad stain for New Zealand cricket", former skipper Brendon McCullum attributed it to a race for captaincy between the two in 2011 and admitted that they still aren't the best of friends despite mutual respect.
Taylor, who is still active in international cricket, took over the captaincy after Daniel Vettori stepped down from the position following the 2011 World Cup.
"It put some pressure on my friendship and relationship with Ross. I have a lot of development and under-age cricket with Ross. I was the captain of the U-19 team and Taylor was my vice-captain. We've always got on really well," McCullum said in a 'Sky Sports Podcast'.
However, after a 1-1 draw in a Test series in Sri Lanka in 2012, it emerged that Taylor had issues with then coach Mike Hesson. That followed series defeats in South Africa, the West Indies and India.
"We had to go for an interview for the job. It was about presenting the map for the future of New Zealand cricket to a panel. I don't really know what we were doing.
"If I had my time, I would've said 'No I'm not going to come and go through the process, you appoint Ross as captain and then we'll see what unfolds from there.'
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