Brendan Taylor Leaves Behind Sachin Tendulkar, Achieves Rare Feat In Australia Vs Zimbabwe 1st ODI

Brendan Taylor made history on Tuesday when Zimbabwe named him in the starting XI for the first ODI of the three-match series against Australia at Harare Sports Club in Harare. By taking the field, the wicketkeeper-batter moved ahead of Sachin Tendulkar to become the longest-serving player in men’s ODIs.

Taylor’s ODI career has now lasted more than 22 years and four months. That leaves him ahead of Tendulkar’s 22 years and 91 days in the 50-over format. The milestone arrived as Zimbabwe opened the series against Australia.

The record had belonged to Tendulkar since he ended his ODI career in 2012.

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Taylor’s path to the mark has been unusual: he first announced his retirement from international cricket in 2021, then served a three-and-a-half-year suspension in 2022 for breaches of the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Anti-Doping Codes.

He came out of retirement in 2025 as Zimbabwe prepared for the 2027 ODI World Cup, which it will co-host with South Africa and Namibia.

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Longevity Rankings

Tendulkar had held the record for more than a decade. His ODI career spanned 22 years and 91 days before Taylor moved past it at 22 years and 148 days.

Sanath Jayasuriya is third on the all-time list with 21 years and 184 days. Pakistan’s Javed Miandad is fourth with 20 years and 272 days.

Sean Williams rounds out the top five. The Zimbabwe batter’s ODI span is 20 years and 187 days.

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Career Detours

Taylor’s route to the record was anything but straightforward. He first announced his retirement from international cricket in 2021.

In 2022, Taylor received a three-and-a-half-year suspension for breaches of the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Anti-Doping Codes. He returned in 2025 after the ban ended, as Zimbabwe began building toward the 2027 ODI World Cup.

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Taylor And Tendulkar

Taylor is now 40 and still adding to his ODI numbers. He made his ODI debut in 2004 and has played 208 matches in the format.

Across those appearances, Taylor has scored a national-record 11 ODI centuries. That haul underlines both his place among Zimbabwe’s most successful batters and the length of his career.

Tendulkar, widely regarded as one of the greatest batters to play the sport, still owns several of the biggest ODI batting records. The Indian legend remains the format’s leading run-scorer with 18,426 runs and also tops the appearances chart with 463 ODIs for India.