Adam Zampa revealed that he opted out of IPL 2024 due to it being a World Cup year and feeling drained from the previous season.
Adam Zampa, retained by Rajasthan Royals for INR 1.50 crore, withdrew from IPL 2024 due to ‘personal reasons’. Despite initial willingness to participate, he cited exhaustion from extensive cricket since last year and prioritised rest ahead of the T20 World Cup in June.
Zampa emphasised the toll of the previous IPL season and the forthcoming World Cup, acknowledging his inability to offer his best to the Royals. Preferring to focus on recuperation and optimal performance for the World Cup, he expressed regret but stood by his decision to skip the IPL 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. I did the full IPL last year. Obviously, the World Cup was three months in India as well,” Zampa told the Willow Talk podcast.
“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 added.
Zampa, who secured eight wickets in six matches for the Royals last season, formed a strong trio with Chahal and Ashwin. Despite the potential competition for his spot in the XI, he prioritized his physical and mental well-being, especially considering his young family.
“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. 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,” Zampa said.
“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,” he concluded.
Rajasthan Royals started IPL 2024 strong, winning four consecutive matches before losing to Gujarat Titans on April 10.
Last Updated on April 11, 2024
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