'IPL owner slapped me 3-4 times': Ross Taylor’s revelation in new book

Former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor has revealed that an Indian Premier League (IPL) owner slapped him after he got out for a duck in a match during the 2011 season.

Taylor made this revelation in his autobiography ‘Ross Taylor: Black & White’. A chapter from his book was published in stuff.co.nz on Saturday (August 13).

According to Taylor, a Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) team owner slapped him three or four times across his face following his dismissal for no score against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings).

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“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,” Taylor wrote.

Further, he said, “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.”

Talking about the slapping incident, the former right-handed batsman, who initially played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and later for RR, said, “Rajasthan played Kings XI Punjab in Mohali. The chase was 195, I was lbw for a duck and we didn’t get close.”

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“Afterwards, the team, support staff and management were in the bar on the top floor of the hotel… 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,” the former New Zealand captain wrote.

It was the 23rd match of IPL 2011 and was played in Mohali. Adam Gilchrist-led Punjab posted 195/7 in 20 overs. Shaun Marsh was the top scorer with 71. In reply, Rajasthan was kept to 147/7. Taylor, who batted at No. 5, was LBW for duck by leg-spinner Piyush Chawla.

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