Taylor to miss IPL, to wed

Mehluli Sibanda Acting Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE national cricket team captain Brendan Taylor will miss three matches for his Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad because of his wedding at the end of this month.Taylor is due to tie the knot with his fiancée Kelly Anne Readings in Chegutu on 26 April and then head off to India to join the rest of his teammates. Chances are high he is going to take his new family with him to India for the duration of the IPL.

“I am leaving for India on 30 April after my wedding on 26 April so I am going to miss three matches for my team in the IPL,’’ he said.
However, Taylor remains available for his local franchise Midwest Rhinos and will be in action when the Kwekwe- based side takes on Matabeleland Tuskers in a 50 over match at Queens Sports Club tomorrow and a Logan Cup four-day fixture, which gets underway at the same venue the following day.

Signed for $50 000 by the Hyderabad based franchise during the IPL auction held in February, Taylor had prior to the auction planned his wedding without the IPL in mind as he was not expecting to attract any bids at the public sale of players.

At Sunrisers who are coached by former Indian batsman Vangipurapu Laxman, Taylor will line up with other international cricketers like South African fiery fast bowler Dale Steyn, Indian opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan who is the captain, West Indies captain Darren Sammy, the explosive Australian batting duo of Aaron Finch and David Warner.

Taylor becomes only the third Zimbabwean player to get snapped up by a team in the lucrative IPL with former captain Tatenda Taibu and left arm spinner Raymond Price the other players who have previously featured in the IPL. Taibu turned out for Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008 while Price was signed up by the Mumbai Indians in 2011 as a replacement for the injured Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques.

Price had initially gone unsold at the IPL auction but Mumbai Indians later notched him up for his reserve price of $50 000.

Because of national elections in India and with that country’s government unable to guarantee security for the IPL, the first phase of the cash rich league has been moved to the United Arab Emirates.