Taylor signs for IPL

Jeffrey Murimbechi Sports Correspondent
ZIMBABWE cricket team captain Brendan Taylor will head to the prestigious Indian Premier League this year after he was signed by giants Sunrise Hyderabad yesterday.
Sunrise Hyderabad paid a whopping US$50 000 for the 28-year old batsman to play in the upcoming 2014 IPL season, but there was no joy yet for other Zimbabwean players Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura who are also on the auction.

Taylor feared he would face the same fate he suffered along with Masakadza in the 2013 mid-year auction when there were no takers for the two players, but this time, a real opening presented itself for him at the auction held in Bangalore yesterday.

The Mid West Rhinos player’s career is certainly on an upward spiral as he was one of the first Zimbabweans to make it into a lower tier T20 league, the Bangladesh Premier League.

Taylor played for the Chittagong Kings and then the Prime Bank Cricket Club which plays in the Dhaka Premier Division.
Just before midday yesterday, Taylor showed uncertainty and a degree of doubt on his twitter account after being misinformed by his friends that his US$50 000 bid had been denied.

He first posted: “Thanks for your wishes for the #IPL, unfortunately not to be again. But hey life goes on! Keep pressing on! Keep smiling! Congrats to all.” Taylor has on several occasions carried Zimbabwe out of precarious situations with his dependability at the crease in all formats. For him to play in such an esteemed league as the IPL is testament of his talent and ability, and that Zimbabweans, despite a poor record, can play high quality Twenty20 cricket at par with some of the greatest names in the sport.

Signing with SH makes him the third Zimbabwean to play in the prestigious star-studded league after retired legends Tatenda Taibu (Chennai Super Kings) and Raymond Price (Mumbai Indians).

Indian teams have an affinity for Zimbabwean wicket-keeper batsmen as seen by their engagement of Taylor and Taibu.
Word of Taylor’s confirmed purchase was abuzz on social networks yesterday and he was overjoyed by the news which came as a reprieve against a stale domestic situation where local players are involved in a stand-off with Zimbabwe Cricket over unpaid salaries and match fees.

The domestic Twenty20 that was scheduled to start on Monday has been cancelled as players refused to take to the field.
Shortly after his confirmation, Taylor posted on his twitter account: “Thanks peeps! When I see my brother I’m going to slap him, he told me bad luck I missed out #confused.”
Taylor then expressed his delight two hours later saying: “Wow! Thanks everyone! I’m feeling extremely honoured to be part of the @SunRisers family. Amazing feeling.”

Taylor made the cut in the lineage of the world’s billion-dollar tournament because of his consistency over the last five years where he has an aggregate batting average of 38.75 runs, scoring 3 683 runs from his last 100 matches, taking 61 catches and seven stumpings.

The Midwest Rhinos opener averages 26.16 runs in his international Twenty20 career, scoring 471 runs from 23 matches with a high score of an unbeaten 75 and four half centuries to his tally.

He joins a star-studded consortium of players comprising of David Warner (Australia), Aaron Finch (Australia), Darren Sammy (West Indies), Isharnt Sharma (India), Amit Mishra (India), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India), Irfan Pathan (India), Jason Holder (West Indies), Moises Henriques (Australia) and Venugopal Rao (India) as the confirmed purchases while SH still has pending bids for South Africa’s Dale Steyn and Indian left-handed batsman Shikhar Dhawan.

Taylor’s annual calendar is slowly filling up as he is scheduled be a part of the elusive domestic Twenty20 and then proceed to represent Zimbabwe at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh next month before joining the IPL.

The IPL tournament will start on April 8 with the last match of the tournament to be played on May 30.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad are the eight teams that will make up the 2014 edition of the IPL.

It is without saying that the express flow of millions of dollars in sports attracts controversy. The IPL is not immune to scandals as it is reported in the Indian media that questions have been raised over the  BCCI president N. Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan’s role in Chennai Super Kings as the team official and his involvement in betting during the IPL matches.

The Supreme Court of India cleared the IPL auction to start yesterday but the fate of the Chennai Super Kings hangs in the balance.