IPL news: Why Adam Zampa gave 2024 a miss

IPL news: Why Adam Zampa gave 2024 a miss

Australia spinner Adam Zampa insists that he wasn’t able to present the best version of himself in the current IPL which is why he pulled out of the tournament.

Zampa has been a key player in Australia’s white-ball successes over the last two seasons and admitted to being drained.

Why Adam Zampa skipped the IPL

He has opted to rest and spend time with family in a bid to recharge ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.

“There are several reasons why the IPL wasn’t for me this year. I think the most important one was the fact that it’s a World Cup year and I’m completely drained from 2023,” Zampa told the Willow Talk podcast.

“I did the full IPL last year. Obviously, the World Cup was three months in India as well.

“So I had the best intentions of trying to play the IPL again this year. But once push came to shove, I felt like I just couldn’t really offer the Rajasthan Royals the best version of myself and looking forward to the World Cup, that’s what’s more important to me, that’s for sure.”

A tough call

Zamoa says that it wasn’t an easy decision to pull out of the Rajasthan Royals squad.

“It came down to my decision being I probably need to put my body and my mental health first,” Zampa said according to ESPN Cricinfo.

“Then you throw a lot of other things into the equation as well, like the fact that I’ve got a young family. It’s not easy to spend nine weeks in India in my situation where I’m fighting for my spot in the team as well.

“It’s not like I can say to myself, ‘well, that’s alright I’ve got 14 games to prepare for a World Cup’. I don’t know whether or not that’s actually going to be two games or four games or six games. So I kind of worked out that maybe just to rest, putting my family first, putting my body first, was better for me.

“It’s not an easy decision because you’ve always got that voice in the back of your mind going, ‘pulling out of the IPL, what are people going to say? What happens the next time you want to go to the IPL? Do people kind of paint you with that brush?’.

“But I wasn’t too fussed about it once I made that decision, I knew it was the right one.”

Adam Zampa is key for Australia’s World Cup hopes

Zampa has been lauded as a lynchpin of Australia’s attack in all conditions.

“His control of his length has been the best that I’ve seen,” Australia’s bowling coach, Daniel Vettori told Cricket.com.au.

“I think we all know the skills and the variations (that he has), but his ability to land the ball on the spot time and time again gives most teams limited opportunities to attack him.