Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor beats Sachin Tendulkar's world record for longest ODI career, but there's a catch

Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor created history on Tuesday, breaking the long-standing record of Sachin Tendulkar.

Zimbabwe's talisman Brendan Taylor scripted history on Tuesday after he stepped out onto the field in the first ODI of the three-match series against Australia at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. As soon as he was named in the starting XI for the series opener, the wicketkeeper-batter moved past Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar to become the longest-serving player in men's ODIs. The right-handed batter's journey has now gone past 22 years and four months, edging Tendulkar's 22-year-and-three-month career in the 50-over format.

Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor broke the long-standing record of Sachin Tendulkar (Getty Images)

Tendulkar, widely regarded as the greatest batter to ever play the sport, had held the record since ending his ODI career in 2012. Sachin's ODI career lasted for 22 years and 91 days while Taylor's has gone upto 22 years and 148 days. Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya (21 years and 184 days) is at the third spot, while Pakistan's Javed Miandad (20 years and 272 days) and Zimbabwe's Sean Williams (20 years and 187 days) are at the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

Taylor might have made this record his own, but there's a catch. It is worth noting that Taylor's career took an unusual path. He had first announced his retirement from international cricket in 2021, and then he received a three-and-a-half-year suspension in 2022 for breaches of the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Anti-Doping Codes.

Once his ban ended, he came out of retirement as Zimbabwe began preparing for the 2027 ODI World Cup, which Zimbabwe would co-host with South Africa and Namibia. Taylor had come out of retirement in 2025.

Speaking of Taylor, the 40-year-old had made his ODI debut in 2004, and over the course of 208 appearances, he had accumulated a national record 11 ODI centuries, cementing his status as one of the country’s most successful batters.

Taylor might have surpassed Tendulkar for longevity, but the Indian legend continues to dominate several major ODI records. Tendulkar remains the format’s leading run-scorer with 18,426 runs and has made more ODI appearances than anyone else, having represented India 463 times.

Root nearing Sachin

England Test captain Joe Root recently beat Tendulkar to become the batter with the most half-centuries in the longest format. The right-hander achieved the feat in the third and final Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Tendulkar called time on his Test career after scoring 15,921 runs in the format, and Root is just 1600-odd runs away from breaking the long-standing record. However, the recent summer wasn't as fruitful for Root as he failed to score a single century in the six Tests he played against New Zealand and Pakistan.