Rajasthan Royals spinner Adam Zampa withdraws from IPL 2024

Australia bowler Adam Zampa, who was retained by Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of December’s auction on Rs 1.5 crore, has pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at short notice due to personal reasons, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Rajasthan Royals will kick-start their IPL 2024 journey with a clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Zampa’s manager confirmed on Thursday that he will play no part in IPL 2024.

The right-arm spinner was a key part of Rajasthan’s trio of spinners including India’s star Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. In the 2023 season, Zampa bagged eight wickets including 3 for 22 against Chennai Super Kings in a home victory.

Royals have already lost Prasidh Krishna from their bowling attack as he was ruled out for the upcoming season after quadriceps surgery.

“The fast bowler underwent surgery on February 23rd, 2024, on his left proximal quadriceps tendon. He is currently being monitored by the BCCI Medical Team and will resume rehab at the National Cricket Academy soon. He will not be able to take part in the upcoming IPL 2024,” BCCI said in a statement last week.

Prasidh’s injury prompted the Royals’ co-owner, Manoj Badale, to recommend that the franchises collaborate more closely with the BCCI’s medical team this week.

“There’s always areas you’d like to keep pushing [the BCCI] on. Clearly, the medical side of it is really important, given how much these players are being asked to play across formats,” Badale told Sky Sports as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“We’re without Prasidh Krishna again this season and that’s tough as a franchise, when you’ve bet 7-8% of your entire player spend on a particular player and then that player is unavailable for the whole tournament, that hurts you. The medical side is an area where we’re trying to work much harder,” he added.