Have got thick skin, will bounce back: Zampa

Australia legspinner says he erred in bowling fuller length against Hardik Pandya to let India off the hook but has learnt his lesson

KOLKATA: In an interview to Hindustan Times during the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL), Adam Zampa had said being thick-skinned is one his strengths. Should Australia keep the faith in this leg-spinner at Eden Gardens on Thursday, the kind of hide Zampa has will surely be tested.

“One of the reasons I have come a long way at such a young age is that I can put aside criticism….I’ve got quite a thick skin…. My biggest strength from a young age has been to see past the information that I thought is no good for me and continue to focus on my strengths,” Zampa had said during his first Indian Premier League season.

On Tuesday at Eden with rain forcing Australia to train indoors, Zampa looked back at Chennai to look ahead to the second game of this five-match ODI series.

“You never like being hit three sixes in a row. But I guess it does happen, probably happened to Shane Warne... As long as you don’t put yourself under too much pressure and learn from those situations…Hopefully, I will get him (Hardik Pandya) out earlier next time,” he said.

ERRING IN LENGTH

The three sixes happened because Zampa felt he had erred in length on Sunday. “I did not execute how I would have liked to in the over against Hardik. It would have been important to get him off the strike... Probably I bowled three balls too full,” he said.

All three sailed beyond the boundary as Pandya raced to a half-century and with MS Dhoni resurrected an India innings that, according to former Australia skipper Michael Clarke, should have ended at 130 or thereabouts.

“As soon as you miss against a player like Hardik, it’s going to go the distance,” said Zampa who finished on 1/66 in 10 overs. “I pride myself on bowling well under pressure but the other day I did not execute it too well. It was very important to try and break that partnership and obviously we did not bowl too well in the middle.”

What gives a spinner some leeway in Australia is that the grounds are bigger, said Zampa explaining why length becomes more important in India.

CREDIT TO DHONI

And what helped Pandya play the way he did was the presence of MS Dhoni, said Zampa. “…To have him as a guide for a young player Hardik and other young players in the Indian team is very helpful.”

The game being reduced to 20 overs didn’t help, said Zampa, and losing the top order early meant it would be difficult to face the spinners who were “pretty hard to pick at night.”

But come Thursday and all that should be behind Australia. Zampa said he backed the variety in their bowling and took a lot of positives from the quicks (Nathan Coulter-Nile and Pat Cummins) bowling really well.