Brendan Taylor says interaction with Indian businessman has resulted in a mulityear cricketing ban

Zimbabwe batter Brendan Taylor has claimed that he was approached by an Indian businessman who blackmailed him to fix matches.

In an open letter Taylor posted on Twitter that he was duped and blackmailed by Indian businessmen 2 years ago, who lured him to meet to discuss potential sponsorship and competition plans.

Taylor was offered $15,000, by the businessmen, to make the journey to India in October 2019, for the discussions. Here, according to Taylor, the businessmen secretly recorded the cricketer partaking in cocaine and subsequently threatened to expose the incendiary videos unless Taylor did not spot fix matches for them.

“I was handed $15,000, but was told this was now a ‘deposit’ for spot fixing and that an additional $20,000 would be paid once the “job” was complete,” Taylor said.

“I’ve been carrying a burden for over 2 years now that has sadly taken me to some very dark places and had a profound effect on my mental health. And I’ve only recently managed to start sharing my story with close friends and family and receive the love and support I guess I was too ashamed and frightened to seek in the first place. This may not make for comfortable reading but I would like to make a statement regarding a finding made by the ICC, which is soon to be released,” he said.

The Zimbabwean batter waited 4 months to report the offense and the interaction to ICC and maintains that he has never been involved in any form of match-fixing. The international cricket governing body has however taken the decision to impose a multiyear band on Taylor’s international cricketing career. Tuesday will be Taylor’s last day on the international scene.

COMMENT NOW