Australia spinner Adam Zampa has revealed the reason for skipping this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). Zampa was all set to feature for Rajasthan Royals, before pulling out before the start of the tournament.
Zampa had been part of IPL 2023 for RR and finished with eight wickets at an average of 23.5 and a strike rate of 16.5.
The leg-spinner might have been a major asset in his IPL franchise's arsenal again this year, but he chose to prioritize his physical and mental well-being, as well as the need to spend time with his family, over his professional career.
After being "drained" from incessant cricket over the last 12 months, in which Australia were crowned ICC Cricket World Cup champions in November 2023, the leg-spinner opted out of this edition of the IPL to give himself a well-deserved rest ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup in the United States and the West Indies.
“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 said on Willow Talk podcast.
Zampa has been a vital part of Australia’s white-ball success, playing 23 ODIs and eight T20Is since the beginning of 2023. Additionally, he also competed in the last edition of the Big Bash League during this timeframe.
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“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,” Zampa said.
“It came down to my decision being I probably need to put my body and my mental health first. Then you throw 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 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,” Zampa added.
Zampa has featured in three T20 World Cups for Australia, including the 2021 edition where his team was crowned champions.
(ICC inputs)
