Sarah Taylor, who turned 31 on Wednesday (May 20), was a vital member of the England women’s cricket team that won two world titles in 2009 – the ODI World Cup and World T20. She graduated into a senior member of the England side by the time the women’s team won the 2016 T20 World Cup.
But, it was after the triumph that her struggle with anxiety began. It was her coach Mark Robinson who first noticed that Taylor had started to detach herself from the group. The same year, she took an indefinite break from cricket but returned to win her team the ODI World Cup in 2017. She did not allow the personal issues to impact her game and scored 396 runs in the World Cup at a phenomenal average of 49.5.
Sarah’s cricketing idols
“I am a huge (Kumar) Sangakkara fan. When I was a kid, Graham Thorpe, I enjoyed his grit and determination. I am a fan of Brendon McCullum, as a person and a cricketer,” Sarah was quoted as saying to Sportstar.
Also, when asked about her favourite Indian cricketer, she responded by taking the name of current Team India skipper Virat Kohli.
When Virat Kohli wanted to meet Sarah Taylor
Kate Cross, Sarah’s best friend and England fast bowler, last year revealed that Virat Kohli once wanted to meet the legendary keeper early morning. Kate also shared an old picture of them with Virat and captioned it as, “5 years ago since @imVkohli wanted to meet you @Sarah_Taylor30!!.”
And, Taylor too came up with a reply: “One of the more bizarre wake-up calls I’ve ever had. #5ambreakfast.”
One of the more bizarre wake up calls I've ever had 🤣. #5ambreakfast
— Sarah Taylor (@Sarah_Taylor30) April 7, 2019
Sarah played her last international match in July 2019, a Test against Australia at Taunton. She finished with 10 Tests, 126 ODIs and 90 T2I0s, scoring a total of 6533 runs with seven ODI centuries.
Her 232 international dismissals are the most by any wicket-keeper in women’s cricket. Taylor won the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year awards thrice (2012, 2013, 2018) and ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award once – 2014.
