One of the Rajasthan Royals owners ‘slapped’ me during 2011 IPL: Ross Taylor
Former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor made another stunning disclosure after revealing the racial “insensitivity” in the New Zealand dressing rooms; he was “slapped” by one of the Rajasthan Royals team owners during the 2011 Indian Premier League season.
Ross Taylor: Black & White, Taylor’s latest autobiography, has details of the incident, which he revealed happened after Kings XI Punjab’s defeat in Mohali.
“The chase was 195, I was lbw for a duck and we didn’t get close,” Taylor wrote in his book, an excerpt of which was published on Stuff.co.nz.
“Afterwards, the team, support staff and management were in the bar on the top floor of the hotel. Liz Hurley was there with Warnie [Shane Warne]. 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. 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.”
“While it was amazing to go for a million dollars. In the long run I would’ve been better off if RCB had got me for US$950,000,” Taylor wrote. “If they had, it would have been my fourth year with them. While the IPL is pretty unsentimental, there is loyalty towards long-serving players. And I probably would have had a longer IPL career as a one-franchise player. On the other hand, if I’d stayed at RCB. I wouldn’t have played with greats such as Virender Sehwag, Shane Warne, Mahela Jayawardene and Yuvraj Singh.”
“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 professional sport and human nature. 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.”
Taylor also mentioned in his book that during his playing days. He had encountered racial slurs from teammates and staff in New Zealand dressing rooms. He also suggested that the cricket body of that nation must do more to attract Polynesian talent to the sport.
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