'Didn’t pay you a million dollars to get a duck'- Ross Taylor recalls the incident when Rajasthan team owner slapped him during Indian T20 League 2011

Former New Zealand player Ross Taylor is known for his calm and composed demeanour. After years of silence, the veteran player has revealed the injustice he faced from the Rajasthan team owner during the Indian T20 league in 2011.

Taylor said in his new autobiography "Ross Taylor: Black & White" that a Rajasthan owner struck him across the face after he was out for a duck in an Indian T20 League match against Punjab in Mohali. The incident followed his duck in the match while chasing a huge target.

"Rajasthan played Kings XI Punjab in Mohali. The chase was 195, I was lbw for a duck and we didn’t get close. Afterwards, 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," Taylor revealed in the book.

"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," he added.

Taylor on moving to Rajasthan from Bangalore

Taylor had been with the Bangalore franchise during his early years in the cash-rich league, but the Rajasthan franchise acquired him for $1 million in 2011. The Kiwi player stated that he would have chosen to remain with the Bangalore franchise rather than the Rajasthan franchise.

"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. 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," he said.