Kane Richardson Feels Him And Adam Zampa Leaving The IPL 2021 Early Played A Role In Them Going Unsold In IPL 2022 Auction

Australia pacer Kane Richardson said that he was shocked that leg-spinner Adam Zampa was not able to find a buyer in the recently concluded Indian Premier League- IPL 2022 auction and said that one major factor behind his and Zampa’s exclusion was them leaving the IPL 2021 early during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Both the players were part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2021, being signed with Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic raging in India, both the players decided to pull out of the tournament and went back home.

Speaking about the same to ESPNCricinfo, Kane Richardson said: “I was definitely more shocked for him. To be brutally honest, when we left last year, in the circumstances early, I remember having a conversation with him. I said to him, look, this may come back and bite us, and at that time it wasn’t a priority for us to be there. We wanted to get back to Australia.

So I think there’d be some kind of buyers that’d be pretty wary of picking us up thinking that we wouldn’t come again. I definitely think that’s a factor.”

Multiple Australian players including Andrew Tye, England’s Liam Livingstone, and others flew back home before the tournament was paused and resumed later in the UAE.

I’ve Never Had A Dialogue With A Franchise: Kane Richardson On Him Leaving The IPL Early Being The Reason For The Going Unsold

However, in his case, Kane Richardson said that despite his best efforts, him pulling out of the IPL tournament repeatedly has created a reputation for him that if we buy him, he might not come to play or pull out midway.

He had first pulled out of the IPL 2015, when he was part of the Rajasthan Royals, after playing in IPL 2014. He then pulled out of the IPL 2020 due to the birth of his first child amidst the COVID pandemic.

Richardson did stress that he hadn’t spoken to any franchises about the reasons and that he wasn’t upset about not being bought. He also said that he hopes he hadn’t done any long-term reputational damage because he had made a decision to be with his family.

He said: “I’m just speaking on what I think would be a factor in it. I don’t know. I’ve never had a dialogue with a franchise or a person that says that’s what would be the case. But I think I didn’t go the year before as well with the birth of my boy.

So my reputation probably is that in the last couple of years I haven’t gone so it’s obviously not something that I am. I try and play as much cricket as I can. But I think the circumstances in the last couple of IPLs have made me not go. But it’s not a reputation I want. So that’s just us brainstorming. I think that’d be a point of them being wary of us turning up, but I’m not I’m not 100% sure.”

The IPL 2022 is expected to begin from March 27 and the league stage is expected to be played in Maharashtra only.

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