Brendan Taylor reveals horrific details of being coerced to spot fix by Indian businessmen

Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor has come out and revealed how his life has been hell on a personal and professional level for the past two years, ever since he visited India in 2019. Taylor, who retired from international cricket in 2021 while on a tour of Scotland and Ireland with his national team, said that he is now admitting himself to a rehabilitation centre to get all the negativity and toxicity that the incident that happened in India has infused in him ever since. 

In a four-page letter uploaded on his official Twitter handle on January 24, Taylor has detailed how in October 2019 he was approached by an Indian businessman who offered to pay him USD$15,000 to come to India and discuss a potential T20 league in Zimbabwe and the various sponsorships associated with it. 

The 35-year-old further reveals in the letter that he took the bait because he was not paid by Zimbabwe Cricket for six months back then and there was no financial security considering that the cricket administration in Zimbabwe was going through turmoil then.

But it was during his visit that he was served cocaine in India and then six people made a video of him doing that and asked him to do spot-fixing, saying that they would give USD$20,000 more on completion of the assignment. 

Taylor admitted that he took the money just so that he can return back home because he feared his life was in danger. But ever since, he was not on his level best and it was only after four months since the incident that Zimbabwe batter reported it to ICC. 

In his letter, Taylor further says that he hoped ICC would understand the delay given how he was concerned about his own and his family’s safety. But the second-highest run-getter for the African nation in ODIs said that ICC was right in not granting him any leverage and now that his findings are to be published and he is to be banned from international cricket for several years, it was only right that he told his version of the story. 

He said that he now feels very relieved even as he walks into the rehab centre that he has his four children, his wife and his loyal friends and family members beside him as his support through all this. 

Taylor represented Zimbabwe in 284 internationals ever since making his debut in 2004 till his last game in 2021, making a total of 9938 runs across formats. He has to his credit 17 centuries and 57 half-centuries.