I was scared for my safety, but never fixed games: Brendan Taylor

New Delhi, January 24

Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor, who is apparently facing a ban from the ICC for failing to report a corrupt approach by an Indian businessman, said he was scared for his safety which is why he accepted the money “for spot fixing”.

If the incident happened in India, we would like to know the details and if he has spoken to the ICC, we will seek the details from the global body. As of now, no one has contacted us — Shabir Hussein Shekhadam Khandwawala, BCCI’s Anti-corruption Unit Chief

“We had drinks and during the course of the evening they openly offered me cocaine, which they themselves engaged in, and I foolishly took the bait,” Taylor wrote in a statement on social medial. “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 matches for them, the video would be released to the public. I was cornered. And with 6 of these individuals in my hotel room, I was scared for my own safety,” he added.

The 35-year-old, who played 205 ODIs, 34 Tests and 45 T20s before retiring last year, added that he took the money to “leave India”.

“I was handed the $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. I took the money so I could get on a plane and leave India. I felt I had no choice at the time because saying no was clearly not an option,” he said.

“When I returned home, the stress of what had taken place severely impacted my mental and physical health,” he added.

Never fixed

Taylor said he took four months to report the incident to the ICC because he wanted to protect his family. “The ‘businessman’ wanted a return on his investment which I could not and would not give. It took me 4 months to report this offence. I acknowledge this was too long of a time but I thought I could protect everyone and in particular, my family,” he said.

Taylor insisted that he was never involved in any wrongdoing on the field. “I would like to place on record that I have never been involved in any form of match-fixing. I may be many things but I am not a cheat,” he said.

Taylor said that if the ICC punished him with a ban, he would “humbly accept” the decision.