Former New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor feels he would have had a long Indian Premier League career had he stayed with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The veteran batter is one of the best players ever to represent New Zealand. He was tremendous in Test matches, but, he did not have a fruitful white-ball career.
Ross Taylor has played for several teams in the Indian Premier League, including the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was picked by the Bangalore-based franchise for almost a million dollars in the inaugural auction of the tournament. Taylor represented the franchise for the first three Indian Premier League seasons. However, he then moved to the Rajasthan Royals.
Speaking about his stint in the Indian Premier League, the former New Zealand cricketer expressed that he would have had a long career in the tournament, had he stayed with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
“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. 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.”, Taylor wrote in his book, published on Stuff.co.nz.
Rajasthan Royals owner slapped me across the face three or four times: Ross Taylor
Former New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor has made several revelations in his book, titled, “Black & White”. He revealed that he was once slapped by the Rajasthan Royals owner, after getting out for a duck against Kings XI Punjab (Punjab Kings) in the Indian Premier League 2011 season. Taylor added that that the slaps were not hard, but stated that he was not sure “it was entirely play-acting”.
“The chase was 195, I was lbw for a duck and we didn’t get close. Afterward, the team, support staff, and management were in the bar on the top floor of the hotel. Liz Hurley was there with Warnie. 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.”, wrote Ross Taylor.
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