Was slapped 3-4 times by Rajasthan Royals owner in IPL 2011: Ross Taylor’s shocking charge

New Delhi: Former New Zealand player Ross Taylor on Saturday dropped a bombshell on Saturday, as he claimed that he was slapped and beaten by an IPL team owner during 2011 season.

Making explosive revelations in his autobiography, the cricketer said that when he got out for a duck, he was slapped across face by one of the owners of Rajasthan Royals. He claims that the incident happened after the match between Rajasthan Royals & Punjab Kings, erstwhile Kings XI Punjab.

In his book titled ‘Black and White’, the cricketer writes that the slaps were not hard but he was not sure whether it was play acting.

When & how the incident unfolded

The embarrassing situation happened in the 23rd match of the IPL season 2011. Punjab scored a daunting 195/7 on board with feisty innings of Shaun Marsh. Royals couldn’t chase Punjab and floundered with 147 in 20 overs. Taylor got out for a duck after facing 5 deliveries.

Further revealing details about the incident, Taylor says that Shane Warne and Liz Hurley were also present along with owners & management staff of the team when it happened.

‘Ross, we didn’t pay you a million dollars to get a duck’ and slapped me 3-4four times. He was laughing and they weren’t hard slaps but I’m not sure that it was entirely play-acting,” Taylor wrote in the autobiography.

He said that he was astounded to see that such thing was happening in a professional environment.

Taylor started his IPL career with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008 and stayed there till 2010. In 2011, he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for a whopping $1million in 2021. He stayed with this franchise for just one year and remained more of an underperformer during the stint.