‘IPL franchise owner slapped me for getting out on a duck’ claims Taylor

KARACHI: Legendary New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor has revealed a shocking incident from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and claimed that one of the Rajasthan Royals owners slapped him for pocketing a duck.

Taylor, who hung up his international cricket boots in April this year, made a shocking revelation in his autobiography, Ross Taylor Black and White, when he revealed a cash-rich Indian league incident.

“Rajasthan played Kings XI Punjab in Mohali. The chase was 195, I had pounds for a duck and we didn’t get close. Later, the team, support staff and management were in the bar on the top floor of the hotel. Liz Hurley was there with Warnie,” Taylor is quoted in her autobiography.

“One of the Royals owners told me, ‘Ross, we’re not paying you a million dollars for a duck,’ and he slapped me three or four times,” he revealed.

However, the experienced New Zealand cricketer claimed that he was still unsure of the owner’s intentions because the latter was laughing.

“He was laughing and it wasn’t a hard slap, but I’m not sure it was completely an act,” Taylor said.

“Given the circumstances, I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it, but I couldn’t imagine it happening in many professional sports settings,” he said.

Taylor represented New Zealand in 450 matches in all formats over the course of his 16-year career and amassed 18,199 runs, including 40 centuries.

The right-handed batsman is also New Zealand’s leading run scorer.

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