Untold Stories of IPL: When Ross Taylor Was Slapped by Rajasthan Royals’ Owner for Getting Out on a Duck

Imagine having a bad day on the field, getting out for a duck, and then returning to the dressing room, only to be slapped by the team owner in front of everyone. Sounds unbelievable, right? But this actually happened to Ross Taylor during IPL 2011 while playing for Rajasthan Royals. After a disappointing performance, Taylor walked back, frustrated with himself. But what happened next stunned him as one of the Rajasthan Royals’ owners slapped him in front of the team. How did he react? What led to this shocking moment? Let’s take a closer look at the full story.

21st April 2011: Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals

It was April 21, 2011, and the stage was set for an exciting clash between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals in the 23rd match of the IPL season at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali. With both teams desperately needing a win to stay alive in the tournament, the stakes were high. Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to bowl first, hoping to restrict Punjab to a chaseable total. But Punjab Kings put on a batting masterclass, piling up a massive 195/7 in their 20 overs. Rajasthan now had a mountain to climb.

Chasing 196, Rajasthan had a disastrous start. Within seven overs, they had already lost three wickets with just 48 runs on the board. The pressure was on, and Ross Taylor walked in, knowing he had to play a big knock to keep his team in the game. In the 8th over, Punjab handed the ball to Piyush Chawla, and Taylor took strike. He tried to settle in, playing carefully, but struggled against the spin.

Then came the final ball of the over, a well-disguised googly. Taylor misread it completely, and the ball struck him right in front of the stumps. The umpire raised his finger, and Taylor was gone for a duck in 5 balls. With Taylor’s dismissal, Rajasthan Royals collapsed completely. Punjab Kings kept their dominance, bowling out Rajasthan for 147 and sealing a 48-run victory. It was a crushing defeat for Rajasthan, leaving their players and fans heartbroken. But for Ross Taylor, the real nightmare was yet to come, in the dressing room.

What Happened in the Hotel Room?

After Rajasthan Royals’ disappointing loss, the team, support staff, and management gathered at the hotel bar. Ross Taylor, still frustrated about getting out for a duck, tried to move past the defeat. The atmosphere was lively as Liz Hurley was there with Shane Warne, and everyone was chatting. But then, one of the team owners approached Taylor and, in a disappointed mood and said, “Ross, we didn’t pay you a million dollars to get a duck”. Before Taylor could react, the owner slapped him across the face, three or four times. Though the slaps weren’t hard, Taylor could tell it wasn’t just a joke. He chose to let it go, but deep down, he knew such behavior had no place in professional sports. On the incident, Sanju Samson looked a bit disappointed and said:

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 [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.

Ross Taylor always had a special bond with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where he played from 2008 to 2010, sharing the dressing room with legends like Anil Kumble, Virat Kohli, Kevin Pietersen, and Steve Smith. When RCB released him in 2011, he wished to stay, but fate had other plans. In 2012, he moved to Delhi Capitals, where he got the chance to play alongside icons like Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene, David Warner, and Morne Morkel. Looking back, Taylor admitted that while leaving RCB was tough, it also opened doors to new experiences. Playing with so many cricketing greats was something he wouldn’t have experienced if he had stayed at RCB. In the statement given, he said:

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. 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.

Who Was the Rajasthan Royals Owner Who Slapped Ross Taylor?

In his book, Ross Taylor did not disclose the name of the Rajasthan Royals owner who slapped him, but the team has had several investors since its inception. The franchise, which won the first-ever IPL title in 2008, was initially owned by a group of business entities under Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt Ltd. The majority stakes belonged to a company linked to Suresh Chellaram (44.2%), followed by Manoj Badale’s firm (32.4%) and Lachlan Murdoch’s organization (11.7%).

A year later, the ownership structure changed when a new investor, Raj Kundra, husband of actress Shilpa Shetty, purchased an 11.7% stake for approximately $15.4 million. However, in 2015, he faced a lifetime ban from cricket after being found guilty of illegal betting during the 2013 IPL scandal, leading to the team’s suspension for two years. By 2021, Badale took majority control, increasing his stake to 65%. Later, an international investment firm with ties to major sports clubs also bought a 15% share in the team.