Adam Zampa, the Australian legspinner, confessed that the team was a little down after losing the first two World Cup games, but he added that everyone had faith in one another to play their duties better and perform well.
Zampa played a crucial role with the delivery in Australia’s first World Cup victory, a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera’s opening stand of 125 runs gave Sri Lanka a solid start before Zampa triggered a middle order collapse with four wickets. He was also supported by Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, who each scored two wickets to restrict the opposition to a subpar 209. Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis responded with half-centuries to facilitate the pursuit.
The legspinner confessed that he was suffering from a touch of back spasm prior to the match. Following Australia’s victory over Sri Lanka on Monday (October 17), Zampa stated, “This is a bit random, to be honest.” “I went to the gym a few nights ago, and I don’t know if you’ve ever had a back spasm, but I’ve been in pain for the past few days.
“I had to do a fitness test before the game today. Yeah, I felt like adrenaline was going to get me through and a bit of Panadein Forte. So yeah, it was a tough one to get through today, but yeah, I think as I said, one of those random ones that will wear off in the next day or so.”
Zampa, who was named man-of-the-match for his performance against Sri Lanka, was criticized for underperforming in the first two games of the tournament, particularly as the only frontline spin option in the squad. In the first two bouts, he recorded respective scores of 0/53 and 1/70.
“I’m very good at self-reflection. So yeah, I look back on the first two games and I’ll probably look at the last game as one where I could have made a difference there and made it easy for those other guys. But yeah, the Indian game, I mean, we’re under the pump defending 200 and I’m always going to be the guy who tries to get wickets. I’m not going to try and let the game peter out and let it go into nothing.
“So yeah, figures, whatever. It’s more about my attitude and reflecting on that too. Did I bowl the ball where I wanted it to? Did I make the right decisions? Did I put my game on the line to try and make a difference? And that’s how I think about it. I don’t really care about combined figures. It’s just doing what I can to try and help win the game.”
Zampa, commenting on the team’s condition after early tournament defeats to India and South Africa, stated, “After the first two games, there is undoubtedly a flat sensation in the locker rooms. I believe you could probably go from 1 to 11 and say that we could all perform our duties slightly better, particularly in the first two games.
“But we know, as Boss said the other day, we get backed into a corner and guys step up and we get on a roll, then anything can happen. It’s a World Cup, so get on a roll. Obviously, really big game against Pakistan in Bangalore, and if we can put it all together and play a good game there, you go 2 and 2 and the feeling’s much better.”
He also dismissed rumors regarding the strain on captain Pat Cummins to be replaced prior to the Sri Lanka match. “We all support each other 100 percent on this squad, so I’m not sure what’s been said or what people are reading, but the only thing I saw on the WhatsApp group was the same lineup as the previous game. Therefore, there is no strain on Pat. As previously stated, our group has a strong sense of mutual support and protection. So, I have no idea who said that.”
