IPL 2021: Richardson, Zampa return to Australia citing personal reasons

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) duo of Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa have decided to return to Australia due to personal reasons and as a result, will be unavailable for the rest of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season, the franchise announced on Monday (April 26).

While Richardson played just one game this season - against Rajasthan Royals (RR) - Zampa has been on the bench for all the five games so far. RR too have had two overseas players - Andrew Tye and Liam Livingstone - pull out of the tournament. More recently, India Delhi Capitals (DC) off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin too exited the bio-secure bubble to take a break from IPL 2021 to support his family.

With India recording over 3.5 lakh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the players too have been affected mentally by the state of affairs. 

RCB have made an excellent start to the season, having won four of their five matches so far. They next take on Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday (April 27).