Zimbabwe veteran breaks Tendulkar ODI world record against Australia in Harare

Brendan Taylor may no longer be one of the world's best ODI players.

But the veteran Zimbabwe wicketkeeper batsman is comfortably its most enduring, setting a new world record in the opening match of the current home ODI series against Australia.

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According to numbers crunched by the revered cricket bible Wisden, Taylor's ODI career has now spanned a remarkable 22 years and 148 days, comfortably besting the previous mark set by long-retired Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar of 22 years and 91 days.

Of course for purists that's the only real comparison between the two players, despite Taylor already being recognised as one of his country's finest ever cricketers.

MORE: When does Australia play South Africa and Zimbabwe? ODI, Test match schedule

40-year-old Taylor has played 208 ODIs during his career scoring 6,708 runs at an average of 35.12 with 11 centuries.

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Meanwhile, the 'little master' Tendulkar played 463 ODI matches in his glittering career amassing a staggering 18,426 runs at a sublime average of 44.83 with 49 white-ball centuries.

Taylor's ODI career began way back in April 2004 when he made his international debut against Sri Lanka and assuming he plays the remaining two matches in the current series against Australia will extend his ODI career to at least 22 years and 153 days.

The Australian with the longest ODI career was Ricky Ponting who played 375 matches across a span of 17 years and 4 days between 1995 and 2012.

Steve Waugh is next best with an ODI career lasting 16 years and 25 days.

Zimbabwe trails Australia 1-0 in the current three-match ODI series with the second match to be played at the Harare Sports Ground on Friday 18 September.

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