Former Zimbabwe captain, Brendan Taylor, has revealed that he was drugged and blackmailed to indulge in spot-fixing at the international level by Indian bookies.
In a statement released on Twitter, Taylor said that he was approached by an Indian bookie, imposing himself as a businessman, in October 2019. The person, whose name has not been mentioned, offered him $15,000 to come to India and discuss sponsorship matters and a potential launch of a T20 competition in Zimbabwe.
Taylor said that the offer came at a time when the Zimbabwe Cricket Board had been undergoing its worst financial crunch, and the cricketers had not been paid for six months, due to which he accepted the offer.
The ex-Zimbabwe captain said that on the last night of his stay in India, the businessman, and his friends took him to a celebratory dinner, where he had drinks with them and was offered cocaine.
“The following morning, the same men stormed into my hotel room and showed me a video taken of me the night before doing cocaine and told me that if I did not spot-fix at international level for them, the video would be released to the public,” the statement read.
“I was handed $15,000 but was told that this was now a ‘deposit’ for spot-fixing and that I would be paid an additional $20,000 once the ‘job’ was completed,” the statement further added.
Taylor said that he took the money to help him leave the country at the earliest. He said that the entire episode led to a mental breakdown, and he was diagnosed with a condition.
He said that once he recovered from the trauma, he decided to report the spot-fixing approach to the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“It took me four months to report this offense. I acknowledge this was too long of a time, but I thought I could protect everyone, and in particular, my family,” Taylor said in his statement.
The former cricketer went on to clarify that he did not indulge in any wrongdoing before or after reporting the approach to the ICC, saying, “I may be anything, but I am not a cheat.”
He said that after investigations and detailed inquiry into the matter, the ICC was going to impose a multi-year ban on his cricketing career.
Taylor said that he wanted to come clean before his fans, family, and friends before the official announcement of the ICC ban, so he issued this statement.
“I humbly accept the decision and hope that my story will be used as means of encouragement for cricketers to report any approaches early,” he added.