Former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor has made some shocking revelations about the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) in his autobiography, 'Ross Taylor: Black and White'.
Taylor made his IPL debut with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2008 and went on to represent the franchise in the next two seasons before being picked by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2011.
RR paid $1 million for the New Zealander in 2011, but he only stayed with the franchise for one season before joining the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals).
Well, in his autobiography, Taylor revealed that one of the RR owners had slapped him when he got out for a duck in an IPL 2011 match against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in Mohali.
Taylor had got out for a duck after playing five deliveries, as RR could manage only 147/7 while chasing 196 against the KXIP in the 23rd match of the IPL 2011, and one of the RR owners insulted him in front of everyone.
Read Also: Ross Taylor reveals a strange superstition that he followed starting 2007 World Cup
Ross Taylor wrote in his autobiography: “When you fetch that sort of money, you’re desperately keen to prove that you’re worth it. And those who are paying you that sort of money have high expectations – that’s a professional sport and human nature.”
The former batter added, “I’d paid my dues at RCB: if I’d had a lean trot, the management would have had faith in me because of what I’d done in the past. When you go to a new team, you don’t get that backing. You never feel comfortable because you know that if you go two or three games without a score, you come under cold-eyed scrutiny.”
Meanwhile, Taylor revealed that Shane Warne and his partner Liz Hurley were present at the bar on the top floor of the hotel, along with other players and management staff when the incident occurred.
He recalled, “One of the Royals owners said to me, ‘Ross, we didn’t pay you a million dollars to get a duck’ and slapped me across the face three or four times. He was laughing and they weren’t hard slaps but I’m not sure that it was entirely play-acting.”
Taylor was shocked to see such a thing happening in a professional sporting environment. He signed off by saying, “Under the circumstances, I wasn’t going to make an issue of it, but I couldn’t imagine it happening in many professional sporting environments.”
