Brendan Taylor

One of the greatest players from Zimbabwe to ever grace the gentlemen’s game, Brendan Taylor is a former skipper of the Zimbabwe national team. Most evidently, he is considered one of the best batsmen in the whole history of Zimbabwe Cricket.

Taylor had a passion for playing cricket since his childhood and made it to first-class cricket at the bare age of 15 years. Taylor was primarily an opening batsman who could bat well in the middle order as well to stabilize the batting. Brendan Taylor made his First-Class debut for Mashonaland A at the age of 15 in 2001-02. The following year, he shot to fame in the local Zimbabwean circuit by notching up a double ton in the Logan Cup.

Taylor made his ODI debut at the age of 18 against Sri Lanka in 2004 at Bulawayo and was dismissed for a duck by Chaminda Vaas. On the same tour, Taylor made his Test debut scoring 19 and 4 in two innings in a match that Zimbabwe lost by an innings and 240 runs. Soon the temporary exit of Tatenda Taibu saw Brendan Taylor being picked as the specialist keeper in the side in 2006. 

During the group stage match against Australia in the inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007, Taylor was scintillating with both bat and gloves during Zimbabwe's upset over the mighty Aussies. He was awarded the Man of the Match award for his 45-ball 60. The Harare-born was then appointed as the captain of Zimbabwe for the Tests against Bangladesh. The series marked Zimbabwe’s return to Test Cricket. He scored 71 in the first innings and followed it up with 105* in the second, becoming the 2nd Zimbabwean to score a century on a captaincy debut.

Against New Zealand in October 2011, Taylor became the first batsman to score back-to-back centuries. After being adjudged the 'Man of the Series', Taylor continued his good form in Tests against New Zealand. In the 2015 ICC World Cup, he scored 433 runs and set a brilliant record for the Zimbabwe team. Taylor hit another century against India, scoring 138 off 110 balls. This was the second occasion when Taylor hit back-to-back tons in ODI cricket. However, this ton went in vain as well.

After the 2015 World Cup, Taylor announced his retirement from all forms of the game due to financial concerns. He decided to sign the Kolpak deal and has represented Nottinghamshire in the English County ever since. Interestingly, Taylor made a comeback to international cricket in April 2021, for their home series against Pakistan which came as a surprise to his fans. The classy batsman should prove to be a vital cog in Zimbabwe setup during a tumultuous period in their cricketing history.

(As of May 2021)