Taylor quit his national side soon after the 2015 World Cup but on 14 September 2017, he terminated his contract with Nottinghamshire to return home to Zimbabwe.

[11][12] In January 2022, he made a revelation about his forced involvement into spot-fixing due to the circumstances he had to deal with and stated that he will be facing a lengthy international ban for failing to report details related to it on time.

During his teens, where he attended St. John's College (Harare), Taylor emerged as a regular choice for national age-group teams and played in two Under-19 World Cups.

Strong domestic performances and a mass exodus of top-level players forced Taylor into the national team at the age of 18 against Sri Lanka in 2003–04.

He shot to international prominence after his 60 not out helped Zimbabwe achieve a five-wicket upset over Australia in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20.

Taylor successfully hit a six off the bowling of Mashrafe Mortaza on the last ball, giving Zimbabwe the victory, and contributing to their series win.

After a relatively unsuccessful series at home against Bangladesh in February 2007, in which there were some concerns over his commitment to the team, he was still selected for the 15-man squad to tour to the West Indies for the World Cup.

While Vusi Sibanda got the ball rolling with several quick boundaries, Taylor was the key man, and batted out the innings.

[25] Brendan Taylor scored 145 not out against the South African cricket team he carried his bat throughout the ODI innings and became only the ninth person to do so.

[27] He was also part of the squad for the 2011 Cricket World Cup where he ended up being the third highest runscorer for Zimbabwe with 170 runs in six matches.

[29] Following poor performances in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Taylor was appointed captain of Zimbabwe on 24 June 2011, taking over from Chigumbura.

By the process, Taylor became only the second Zimbabwean batsman after Kevin Arnott to score a century in the fourth innings of a Test match, and contained 5 huge sixes.

[37] Despite that, Taylor said that his team will continue to play aggressive, attacking test cricket which drew widespread praise from all quarters.

[44] Before the last group stage game against India, Taylor decided to retire from One Day internationals at the mere age of 29.

Veteran Indian commentator Sunil Gavaskar referring to Taylor's knock of 138 against India, claimed it as one of the best ODI innings that he had ever seen.

[48] In the same tournament, he along with Sean Williams added Zimbabwe's highest ever fifth wicket partnership of 149 in a World Cup contest against Ireland.

However, since Zimbabwe's return to the Test circuit, Taylor has shown remarkable maturity, both as the side's leading batsman and captain.

Taylor has announced that his team will continue to play aggressive, attacking test cricket which drew widespread praise from all quarters.

On 14 September 2017, Taylor was released from his county deal with Nottinghamshire due to family reasons, thus eligible to play for Zimbabwe again.

After 10 days of rest with the family, Taylor joined with Zimbabwean training camps for the upcoming international tours.

[61][62] In the 2011–12 Stanbic Bank 20 Series, Taylor overcame a blistering ton by Chris Gayle to lead his team Mid West Rhinos to victory.

[65] Wellington went on to finish bottom of the ladder, with just two wins from 10 games, but Taylor was the side's highest scorer with 207 runs, and the eleventh best overall.

With his experience from leading the Zimbabwe National side and Uthura Rudras (Sri Lankan Premier League), Taylor led King's on a 4-game win streak.

[69][70] On 24 January 2022, Taylor posted on tweet saying he had been approached to spot-fix by a group of Indian businessmen in October 2019, and he initially could not refuse the offer.

[71] He was invited by an unnamed Indian businessman to discuss in detail about sponsorships and the potential launch of a domestic T20 competition in Zimbabwe.

[72] He revealed that he was blackmailed and cornered by the businessmen in order to make him forcefully engage in spot-fixing after they threatened him that they would leak photographs of him taking cocaine.

[73] Taylor agreed to do it by accepting US$15000 as bribes in order to ensure the safety of him and his family, and admitted that he had taken drugs, but also insisted he became a victim of substance abuse.

He admitted that he did not report the incident to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for about four months, and said that he would check into a rehabilitation centre for substance abuse.

[75] Taylor also admitted that he had failed a drug test following his final international match, when Zimbabwe toured Ireland in September 2021.

[77] Zimbabwe Cricket issued a statement to say that they were aware of the investigation, and would wait until the ICC publish its findings before making any comment.