He will be Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa is one of the finest spinners in white-ball cricket. While Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins got big paydays after winning the ODI World Cup 2023 on Indian soil, Zampa was retained by Rajasthan Royals (RR). The leggie pulled out of IPL 2024 due to personal reasons. Now, he doesn’t intend to play franchise cricket and wants to make his Test debut, especially after getting a two-year contract from Cricket Australia.
Zampa made his IPL debut for now-defunct Rising Pune Super Giants (RPS) and bagged six wickets for just 19 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the best by a spinner in league's history. Despite extraordinary performances in his debut IPL season, he wasn’t a regular in the side and recalls being disappointed and undervalued in the auction.
He recalled his IPL debut “I got my debut, bowled to Virat for the first time, got De Villiers out twice in two balls, and then the next game was the six-fer, and then you're like they're obviously going to pick me up because of the six-fer. Then you go back, and you're like, I just got to have a solid year. And then I had a stinker and never got a multi-million dollar payday from the IPL,” the 32-year-old said on The Final Word Cricket Podcast.
Zampa wanted to head back home during IPL
Zampa also recalled that he always wanted to be a part of the cash-rich league but experienced a range of emotions while playing in it to the point he wanted to head back home.
“I had a bit of international experience before that (the IPL debut), and I always wanted to be a part of the IPL. I went through all kinds of emotions, right from how good it is just to be a part of it to I am sick of this. Just get me home. I am not playing,” he added.
Zampa has played 20 IPL games taking 29 wickets at an average of 19.24. His last appearance was in 2023 season against Punjab Kings (PBKS) where he bagged one wicket for 26 runs in his quota of four overs.
‘Franchise thing isn’t for me’
While there are plenty franchise leagues mushrooming around the world, Zampa wants to focus on playing international cricket for as long as possible.
"I was lucky to…be part of a winning World Cup team. Looking forward, the franchise thing isn't for me. I want to keep playing for Australia as long as I can, the feeling of success in that team is something I want more of. I'm lucky enough to have signed a two-year with Australia and it's on the basis of wanting to play every game for Australia. It meant I had to make some decisions around franchise cricket," the New South Wales cricketer said.
Zampa will be back in action on the international stage when Australia tour UK (Scotland and England) for limited overs series.
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