Adam Zampa replaces Kane Richardson at Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore have named legspinner Adam Zampa as a replacement for fellow Australian Kane Richardson for IPL 2020, which kicks off on September 19 in the UAE. It is understood that Richardson has pulled out of the tournament due to the impending birth of his first child.

Zampa's entry bolsters a spin attack that already includes India internationals Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar. Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi and the uncapped Shahbaz Ahmed are the other spin options in the Royal Challengers squad.

"We are disappointed to not have Kane's skills with us this IPL as he certainly on top of his game," Mike Hesson, Royal Challengers' team director, said. "However once we found out Kane and Nyki's baby was due during the IPL, it's an exciting time and we were fully supportive of Kane wanting to be at the birth of the first child. When looking at our squad for UAE conditions we felt it was an opportunity to bring in another quality legspinner in Adam Zampa to provide cover for Chahal and also give us extra options if conditions suit spin as expected during the tournament."

This will be Zampa's second IPL franchise; he had previously played for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant, taking 19 wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 7.54. The haul included 6 for 19 - the best IPL figures by a spinner.

Zampa, who had listed his base price at INR 1.50 crore (AUD 276,000), was earlier unsold at the December 2019 auction. Both Zampa and Richardson are currently in the UK for three T20Is and three ODIs against England. The tour ends on September 16, three days before the start of IPL 2020.

A regular in Australia's limited-overs squads, Zampa had an impressive BBL 2019-20, picking up 20 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of 7.20 for Melbourne Stars. At Royal Challengers, he will line up alongside his ODI captain Aaron Finch and the uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Phillipe.