Zimbabwe’s Taylor takes over from Tendulkar as longest-serving ODI player

HARARE (Agencies): Brendan Taylor replaced India great Sachin Tendulkar as the longest-serving one-day ​international player on Tuesday after the ‌Zimbabwe veteran took the field for the series opener against Australia in Harare. Taylor’s ODI ​career now spans 22 years and ​four months, taking the mantle from ⁠Tendulkar, who retired from the 50-overs ​format in 2012 after playing for 22 ​years and three months. Tendulkar remains the highest run-scorer in ODIs (18,426) and the format’s most capped ​player with 463 appearances. Taylor, 40, emerged ​as one of Zimbabwe’s most prolific talents in ‌2004 ⁠and has scored a national record 11 hundreds in 207 ODI games heading into Tuesday’s match. Taylor retired in 2021 ​and was ​banned for ⁠three and half years in 2022 for breaching the ​ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Anti-Doping codes. After serving ​the ⁠suspension he came out of retirement in 2025 with Zimbabwe gearing up to ⁠co-host ​next year’s ODI World ​Cup with South Africa and Namibia.