Australian pacer Kane Richardson has pulled out of the upcoming IPL. He stated that the decision was difficult but definitely a right one as he didn’t want to miss the birth of his first child.
The 29-year-old was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for rupees 4 crore in the IPL auction last December. However, he has opted out of the tournament to be with his wife during the birth of their first child.
RCB has named Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa as his replacement for the IPL.
“It’s always difficult to withdraw from a competition like the IPL. It’s the pinnacle domestic competition in the world so it wasn’t an easy decision, but when I sat down and thought about it, it was definitely the right one,” Richardson said on Wednesday.
“With all that’s going on in the world at the moment and the challenge of getting home on time for something as unpredictable as the birth of a child, I couldn’t risk missing that.”
Richardson’s current plan is to head home to Adelaide to be with his family. He will do so after undertaking the mandatory two-week quarantine period after the tour later this month.
“I’m disappointed to miss the IPL but hopefully there are opportunities ahead for that,” he said.
“I don’t think I’d be able to live with missing the birth of my first child. I can be home and support my wife as best I can, and hopefully those (cricket) opportunities come around again.”
Richardson has featured in the last nine T20Is for Australia. He is now taking inspiration from his past performances to get into the playing XI as a third pacer behind Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
The first T20 between Australia and England will be played here on Friday.