MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist gave a whole new facet to the wicketkeeper’s role, claims former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor

COLOMBO: Former Zimbabwean captain Brendan Taylor, who retired from international cricket during the peak of his career, has revealed how he was hugely inspired by MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist.

Brendan Taylor, who had retired from cricket at the age of 29, had said that he did so as his team was not getting in the right direction back then. In his own words, his retirement had nothing to do with money but it was for ‘self-improvement’.

Just ahead of announcing his retirement, he had scored 433 runs for a Zimbabwe side barely managing to stay afloat in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 

He walked away from his ODI career after scoring back-to-back World Cup hundreds – 121 against Ireland and 138 against India – although both result in losses for his team.

Brendan Taylor, now 34 years old, is enjoying his second innings after spending two years as a Kolpak player with Nottinghamshire in English county cricket. He is a T20 gun for hire now with stints in Bangladesh Premier League, Pakistan Super League and now at the Lanka Premier League (LPL).

Speaking exclusively with DNA, Brendan Taylor has revealed how legendry Indian skipper MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist gave a whole new facet to the wicketkeeper’s role in the team.

“I am really giving additional effort to enjoy this second coming of mine. I have not set any real goals for myself but I am making a conscious effort to put my best performances in these remaining years of my active cricketing career,” Taylor told DNA from Hambantota in Sri Lanka, where he is turning out for Kandy Tuskers in LPL.

Although he has a modest average of 35 in both Tests and ODIs, Taylor is averaging over 68 in the handful of ODIs this season. Even in LPL, the Zimbabwean began with a bang, scoring 51 not out and 46 in his first couple of games.

Taylor considers himself lucky that since his debut in 2004, he had been part of the generation that included the likes of Adam Gilchrist and MS Dhoni, who gave a whole new facet to the wicketkeeper’s role.

“Dhoni and Gilly (Gilchrist) laid down the template for the next generation. Although my batting was always stronger than my wicketkeeping, but I love to take up the gloves behind the wicket especially in the T20 format. It also helps my batting to get a good perspective of the entire game as well as the condition and state of the pitch,” the 34-year-old said.