Brendan Taylor - The unsung hero of modern cricket

Brendan Taylor’s name will never be mentioned along with the great cricketers of modern era. He is a shining star but sadly, we are not well aware of his brightness. He possesses all the tributaries of a champion, but still he is not considered as a champion.

Since his introduction to international cricket, Taylor’s advancement has been steadier. And during his younger days he had already proved himself as the life saver for the Zimbabwean team. In August 2006 he smashed 17 runs from the last over of a run chase - including a six to win off the last ball when five were needed - to give Zimbabwe a 2-1 lead in the ODI series against Bangladesh.

Taylor hit the jackpot at Cape Town on September 12, 2007, when his cool and composed 60 not out carried Zimbabwe to an incredible five-wicket win over Australia in the ICC World Twenty20.

While at the crease, Taylor will always be the dominant figure and will dominate the proceedings with immense will-power and guts to blunt the best attacks in the world. His favourite stroke is the full-blooded front foot drive which lacks art but more power, yet his pulls and cuts, especially the uppercuts have always been beneficial for his team.

The political turmoil in Zimbabwe let their Cricket Board to take a break from Test cricket for five years. They could only play the limited-overs cricket and despite the limited opportunities, Taylor has always been productive. He had been the star for Zimbabwe in the recently concluded ICC World Cup for the 50 over format.

Zimbabwe have returned to Test cricket this year and Taylor was being made captain and immediately under his leadership the Zimbabweans made an immediate impact by stunning the Bengal Tigers in both Test and ODI series. Captaincy has galvanized Taylor into a more responsible batsman. The aggression is still there but it’s more controlled and well measured. At the start of his career his foot-work wasn’t astute but in course of time he has made it even better.

 Against Bangladesh in the Test match, he scored a 71 and 105 not out. His bat failed against the Bangladeshi new ball bowlers, except a hundred in the fourth ODI for a losing cause and was short worked by Saeed Ajmal in the Test series, but in the ODI series against Pakistan, his inspiring 84 in the first ODI almost took Zimbabwe in the brink of victory but fell short by just five runs, in the second ODI, again he scored a fifty. But the Pakistanis proved too strong and thus won the ODI and Test match with the rubber remaining un-stretched.

Against New Zealand, Brendan Taylor had been astonishing. In the three-match ODI series against New Zealand this year, Taylor had scored 310 runs at a staggering average of 310.00 with a strike rate of 106.89. In the third ODI at Bulawayo, his aggressive 75 off 65 balls had set the tempo to chase down an impossible 329.

In the one-off Test match against New Zealand, Taylor’s bat again shone with a 50 and 117. His dazzling knock of 117 in the Bulawayo Test match almost helped Zimbabwe to script one of the daring chases in the history of Test cricket. But sadly, history could not be scripted.

Just imagine Brendan Taylor playing for India or Australia! How the response would have been. But he represents a minnow who hardly plays enough cricket to express their abilities in front of the world.

Brendan Taylor is a cricketer who makes a substantive, yet unrecognized contribution; a person whose bravery is unknown or unacknowledged, the unsung hero of modern day cricket.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar