Zimbabwe named Ben Curran as Brendan Taylor replacement in T20 WC squad

At the toss on Friday, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza announced that veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Brendan Taylor has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup, which is taking place in India and Sri Lanka. Taylor suffers from a hamstring injury. Ben Curran, a top-order batter, has been brought in to replace him. In Zimbabwe's first match of the tournament, which they won against Oman, Taylor, 40, suffered a hamstring injury and had to retire hurt at 31 off 30 balls. He had previously caught three balls from behind the stumps. Curran has been added to the team with at least two games remaining in the tournament. Curran has scored centuries in both Tests and One-Day Internationals, but he has never been considered for T20I cricket. He has scored 872 runs in 40 T20 innings at a strike rate of 126.01, with a best of 71. Tadiwanashe Marumani will keep the wicket in the game against Australia. In Taylor's place, all-rounder Tony Munyonga has joined the Zimbabwe XI. There was always a concern that Taylor might not be able to make the starting XI for the game against Australia; however, it was understood that the management of the team would leave Taylor out of the game if he was not fit in the hope that he would be ready for the other matches. Taylor made a comeback to international cricket in July 2025 after serving a three-and-a-half year ban for breaching the ICC's anti-corruption code. Taylor was included in Zimbabwe's squad for the second Test in August against New Zealand after his sanction expired on July 25. That was one of Taylor's two Test matches upon his return, along with two ODIs and 14 T20Is in which he scored 282 runs, including a 123-run innings against Botswana in a September 2025 T20 World Cup qualifying match.