In what can only be called a massive revelation, veteran Kiwi batter Ross Taylor, in his book, Ross Taylor: Black & White, claimed that one of Rajasthan Royals’ owners slapped him 2-3 times during the 2011 season of the IPL.
The Kiwi said that he was slapped by the franchise’s owner after he was dismissed for a duck during a game against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) 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.”
The 38-year-old Taylor played for Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2008 to 2010 and was with RR in 2011. He also represented Delhi Capitals, then called Delhi Daredevils, as well as the now-defunct Pune Warriors India.
“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.
“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.”
The autobiography made headlines after Taylor claimed he experienced racism during his 16-year career with the New Zealand team.
Earlier, Ross Taylor stunned the world with revelations regarding his experience with racism.
Ross Taylor belongs to the Samoan heritage and has accused New Zealand cricket team officials of passing racist comments as casual dressing room banter. Taylor has been one of the talismans of New Zealand cricket and is highly regarded.
The claims that Taylor has made disappointed many people in the nation and they have termed it as an unfortunate experience he had to go through.
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“Cricket in New Zealand is a pretty white sport. For much of my career, I’ve been an anomaly, a brown face in a vanilla line-up. That has its challenges, many of which aren’t readily apparent to your teammates or the cricketing public. In many ways, dressing-room banter is the barometer. A teammate used to tell me you’re half a good guy Ross but which half is good? You don’t know what I’m referring to. I was pretty sure I did“, writes Taylor in his book.
Since 38-year-old Taylor hails from a Samoan background, people assumed him to be a Maori or of Indian heritage. Taylor further revealed that the dressing room banter at times was hurting and disrespectful but he had to make peace with it, just to represent his country on the international level.
“In all probability, a (white New Zealander) listening to those sorts of comments would think Oh, that’s okay, it’s just a bit of banter. But he’s hearing it as a white person and it’s not directed at people like him. So there’s no pushback; no one corrects them. Then the onus falls on the targets. You wonder if you should pull them up but worry that you’ll create a bigger problem or be accused of playing the race card by inflating harmless banter into racism. It’s easier to develop a thick skin and let it slide, but is that the right thing to do“, writes Taylor.
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A New Zealand Cricket spokesperson told the New Zealand Herald newspaper that the national body “deplores racism, is a staunch supporter of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission’s Give Nothing to Racism campaign, and is deeply disappointed Ross has been exposed to this type of behaviour.
(Inputs from PTI)
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