Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa will miss the first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as he is getting married, the team’s Director of Cricket Mike Hesson said in a video posted on Twitter.
RCB will take on the reigning champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in the tournament opener on April 9.
“We won’t have our full contingent of overseas players available for the first game,” Hesson said. “Adam Zampa is getting married. It’s an important time for him and it’s something that as a franchise we are aware of and we respect and we hope he has a great time. So when he joins us, once again he is going to be fresh and make a massive contribution to the rest of the tournament.”
The Royal Challengers will start their practice camp in Chennai on March 29, a day after the conclusion of the ongoing India vs England ODI series. Also, those players who are part of the ODI squad in Pune won’t have to serve the quarantine and can join the bio-bubble directly.
“We have got some who have been in the bubble all the time, so they will come straight bubble to bubble transfer,” Hesson explained.
“From Pune, they will join us. We have got one or two who will have a day or two at home. They have been in a bubble for so long and need to freshen up. When they will be arriving, they obviously will have to take their seven-day quarantine.
“I see it as a jigsaw puzzle, pulling everything together. But really keen to get started. Those guys who haven’t been playing a huge amount of cricket, it [the quarantine period] will benefit them. Those who have, I think seven days will be great for them just to refresh.”
RCB’s IPL 2021 Camp and Player Availability
When’s the pre-season camp starting? When are the overseas players arriving? On @myntra presents Bold Diaries, Mike Hesson leaves no room for speculations ahead of #VivoIPL2021.#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2021 #Classof2021 pic.twitter.com/yxBFNYVwW8
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 24, 2021
Under Virat Kohli’s leadership, RCB performed extremely well in the 2020 edition of the tournament. They qualified for the playoffs but were knocked out by David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator. In the upcoming season, Kohli & Co. will be hopeful of clinching their maiden IPL title, having acquired the services of some top players like Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian and Kyle Jamieson at the auction.
