Sydney: Royal Challengers Bangalore leg-spinner Adam Zampa opened up on his decision to quit IPL midway saying that the bio-bubble of Indian Premier League 2021 is the ‘most vulnerable’ bio-bubble he has been a part of. He also stated that the tournament should have been held in UAE, like last year which was extremely safe.
“We’ve been in a few (bubbles) now, and I feel like this is probably the most vulnerable. I just feel like because it’s India, we’re always being told about the hygiene over here and being extra careful. I just felt like it was the most vulnerable,” Zampa was quoted as saying to Morning Herald on Tuesday.
“The IPL that was held in Dubai six months ago didn’t feel that way at all. I felt like that was extremely safe. Personally, I feel like that would have been a better option originally for this IPL, but obviously, there’s a lot of political stuff that goes into it. Obviously there’s the T20 World Cup that’s meant to be happening here later this year. That’s probably going to be the next discussion in the cricket world. Six months is a long time,” he added.
Zampa who was bought by RCB for Rs. 1.5 crore and didn’t get a single game this season and decided to quit the cash-rich League event midway. “Obviously the COVID situation over here is pretty dire. I just felt, rocking up to training and stuff, obviously, I wasn’t playing in the team as well, I was going to training and I wasn’t finding the motivation. There were a few other things like bubble fatigue and the chance to get home, once all the news broke about the flights and everything. I thought this was the best time to make the call.”
The 29-year-old Australian spinner priorities his mental health over money amid the surge of Covid-19 in India. He opined that he has no regrets about the monetary loss he suffered by quitting the cash-rich tournament as he wanted to give priority to his mental health.
“There’s a lot of people coming out and saying games of cricket could be a reprieve for some people but that’s also going to be a personal answer. Someone who has a family member on their death bed probably doesn’t care about the cricket. I feel like for leaving anyone leaving halfway through a tournament, it’s definitely a financial sacrifice. But from my point of view, I wanted to put my mental health first,” he concluded.
