[Watch] Test comeback at 39 years, Brendon Taylor plays a glorious knock vs New Zealand
Zimbabwe veteran batter Brendon Taylor made his comeback to international cricket on Thursday after serving a ban for three and a half years from the ICC. He was included in Zimbabweโs playing XI for the second Test match against New Zealand, scheduled from 7th to 11th August 2025. Taylor made his last Test appearance against Bangladesh in July 2021.
Making his Test comeback after more than four years, Brendon Taylor played a solid knock of 44 runs in 107 balls, which included some glorious shots. Taylor top-scored for Zimbabwe in the first innings, continuing his work of shepherding the team to respectable totals, as it seems like nothing has changed.
Hereโs a glimpse of Brendon Taylorโs comeback knock in international cricket:
๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐
โ FanCode (@FanCode)
Brendan Taylor stepped back into whites after 3.5 years, not just as a cricketer but as a man who rebuilt himself ๐#BrendanTaylor #ZIMvNZ pic.twitter.com/y97JLpsEjx
Zimbabwe managed just 125 in their first innings as Matt Henry led the way with the ball for New Zealand with a five-wicket haul. Zakary Foulkes picked up four wickets.
"Couldn't Get Out Of Bed": Brendan Taylor on return to Test team
Brendon Taylor was banned for 3.5 years from all formats of cricket by the International Cricket Council for breaching the ICCโs anti-corruption and anti-doping codes. In 2022, Taylor met an Indian businessman, who approached him for spot-fixing. The latter offered him to pay $15,000 if Brendon Taylor joined hands with him. Reportedly, Brendon Taylor had refused to take part in fixing, but he accepted the money.
He reported the incident to the ICC four months later. As per the mandatory requirement of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, any player who has been approached for corrupt activities must inform the ICC within 24 to 48 hours.
"How good is it that three years ago, I couldn't get out of bed and now I am here doing what I love, and that's representing Zimbabwe?" Taylor told the broadcaster.
"Dealing with the sanction, dealing with my own internal chaos - there was not a specific day, there were multiple days of trauma. I was in the dark depths in the abyss and trying to just get through this total and incomprehensible demoralisation of life. It was incredibly difficult." he added.
Brendan Taylor has played 34 Tests and 205 ODIs for Zimbabwe. He has scored 2320 and 6684 runs in Tests and ODIs, respectively.
