Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Australia's ace spinner Adam Zampa has opened up on his decision to pull out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2024. Zampa, who was part of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) squad, opted out just before the tournament began, citing personal reasons. Zampa has revealed that the key factor behind his withdrawal was mental fatigue.
Why did Adam Zampa pull out of IPL 2024?
Speaking on the Willow Talk podcast, he admitted feeling ‘completely drained’ following Australia's victory in the 2023 ODI World Cup. This exhaustion, he explained, would have prevented him from performing at his best for the Royals. Despite his absence, RR got off to a flying start, winning their first four matches of the season. Their winning streak was snapped on April 10 with a narrow 3-wicket loss to the Gujarat Titans (GT) in a last-ball thriller. Zampa was originally retained by RR during the IPL 2024 mini-auction held in Dubai, securing a contract worth Rs 1.50 crore. He played six matches for the team last season, taking eight wickets.
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“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. I did the full IPL last year. Obviously, the World Cup was three months in India as well,” said Zampa.
“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,” he further added.
This wasn't Zampa's first stint in the IPL. Before joining the Rajasthan Royals, he had played for both the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant. Across these teams, he had managed to impress with 29 wickets in just 20 matches.
Zampa further emphasized the difficulty of his decision. He highlighted the importance of prioritizing his mental and physical wellbeing, stating that he 'needed to put his mind and body first'.
“It came down to my decision being I probably need to put my body and my mental health first. 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,” Zampa stated.
“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,” the 32-year-old concluded.
Zampa will set his sights on the bigger goal now as he's expected to be part of the Australian squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the West Indies and USA in June.
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