Sehwag’s hilarious batting advice that New Zealander Ross Taylor will never forget

In addition to giving new, uncapped cricketers a chance to mingle with international players, the Indian Premier League (IPL) also served to unite the sport by providing opportunities for international cricketers to form bonds over those two months of exhilarating cricket activity. And during the course of the competition, a lot of international players have succeeded in developing unique bonds with Indian cricketers and have had their fair share of happy experiences.
As the legendary New Zealander Ross Taylor revealed in his new autobiography, Ross Taylor: Black & White, co-written with Paul Thomas, where he revealed Virender Sehwag’s epic batting advice during one of the matches, the 2012 IPL season when he was traded to Delhi for US$1.3 million, is one that Taylor will undoubtedly never forget.
The Delhi Daredevils squad (now known as the Delhi Capitals) went to Sehwag’s restaurant following one of their games. And while the majority of the crew was engrossed in watching Manchester City’s match, the memorable one in which Sergio Agüero had scored in injury time to give his club a historic Premier League title triumph, Taylor was savouring some prawns.
The former New Zealand cricketer admitted that Sehwag was completely at ease while slamming the ball around the park in an IPL match the day after he appeared to be struggling. The Indian icon approached Taylor at that point and offered him some amusing hitting tips, which astounded Taylor.
“We had a memorable night at Sehwag’s restaurant. A lot of the guys liked their football so we were watching Manchester City play Queens Park Rangers on a big screen. It was the final round of the Premier League and Sergio Agüero scored in stoppage time to give City a 3–2 win and their first title for 44 years. The food was fantastic, particularly the prawns. I couldn’t stop eating them but didn’t realise Sehwag was aware that I was making a pig of myself,” in his book, Taylor wrote; a portion of it was featured on Stuff.co.nz.
“We played the next day. Sehwag was smacking it to all parts, making it look easy. The overseas batters, me included, were struggling. I was feeling nervous because I was on big money and knew I had to deliver. The pressure was on when I went in to bat, but Sehwag was so relaxed: he glove-punched me and said, “Ross, just bat like you’re eating prawns.” It was like cricket was a hobby and he was just playing for fun. From then on, whenever our paths crossed, he would remind me about the prawns,” he added.