Ex-New Zealand batter Ross Taylor, in his autobiography, made a shocking revelation that one of the Rajasthan Royals’ owners slapped him three-four times in a bar after he got out for a duck against Punjab Kings in 2011.
The former New Zealand batting icon revealed that the franchise’s owner slapped him after he was dismissed for a duck during a game against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in Mohali. This happened during a get-together in their hotel bar.
Taylor has just released his autobiography– ‘Ross Taylor: Black and White’. He made the revelations in this book. The 38-year-old player said that the slaps by the owner were not hard. However, he admitted that he was not certain if it was “entirely play-acting.”
Excerpts from Ross Taylor: Black and White
“Rajasthan played Kings XI Punjab in Mohali. The chase was 195, I was lbw for a duck and we didn’t get close. Afterward, the team, support staff, and management were in the bar on the top floor of the hotel.”
“Liz Hurley was there with Warnie. 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 it was entirely play-acting.”
“Under the circumstances, I wasn’t going to make an issue out of it, but I couldn’t imagine it happening in professional sporting environments.”
Taylor reveals racial insensitivity in New Zealand cricket
In the IPL, Taylor played for Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2008 through 2010. He represented RR in 2011. He also played for the now-defunct Pune Warriors India as well as represented the Delhi Capitals, which were formerly known as the Delhi Daredevils.
“When you fetch that sort of money, you’re desperately keen to prove that you’re worth it. And those who are paying that sort of money have high expectations– that’s a professional sport and human nature,” he continued in the autobiography.
Taylor, who is of Samoan descent, spoke of racist “banter” in the Kiwi locker room. He talked about the casually discriminatory remarks made by several New Zealand team officials.
“For much of my career I’ve been an anomaly, a brown face in a vanilla line-up,” says the former batter in his new autobiography.
