Veteran New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor achieved a special milestone on Saturday (December 26) when he took the field on the opening day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test against Pakistan at Bay Oval.
Setting a new record, Taylor became the most-capped New Zealand cricketer in their history with 438 international appearances to his name across all three formats of the game.
With his 438 international games – 104 in Tests, 232 in One-Day Internationals, and 102 in T20 Internationals, the 36-year-old went past Daniel Vettori's tally of 437 matches for New Zealand to become the country’s most capped player.
Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is the third player on the list with 432 matches followed by Stephen Fleming with 395 international appearances to his name.
Notably, Taylor and Vettori are the only two New Zealand cricketers who are among the most-capped international cricketers in the world in the history of the game with India’s Sachin Tendulkar topping the chart with 664 international appearances followed by Sri Lankan greats Mahela Jayawardene (652) and Kumar Sangakkara (594).
Taking to Twitter, New Zealand Cricket also mentioned the milestone for the veteran right-hander.
The NZC tweeted: “Out comes @RossLTaylor, now New Zealand’s most capped player across all three formats with 438 matches.”
In his record game, Taylor played a gritty knock of 70 off 151 balls including 10 fours and a six before being dismissed by young Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi in the post-Tea session on Saturday.
He also added 120 runs with skipper Kane Williamson for the 3rd wicket to help New Zealand recover from the early wickets of openers Tom Latham and Tom Blundell on Day 1 of the ongoing Boxing Day Test against Pakistan at Bay Oval.
Noteworthy, the hosts finished day one at 222/3 with Williamson and Henry Nicholls at 94* and 42* respectively.
(With ANI/Stuff Inputs)
