'Wish to spend six-eight weeks at home and work on my game' - Kyle Jamieson on missing IPL mega auction

The IPL 2022 mega auction is around the corner. The two-day event will be held on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. While many of the players from India as well as across the globe have registered their names for the mega auction, there have been some who have decided to back out due to some reason or the other and one of them is New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson.

Jamieson had represented the Royal Challengers in IPL 2021. In fact, the tall pacer was also the second-most expensive buy at last year’s IPL auction as he was roped in by the RCB for a sum of INR 15 crore. The speedster has made himself unavailable for the 2022 season of the marquee tournament as he wishes to spend six-eight weeks at home in the next 12 months.

 I actually need to spend time working on my game, says Kyle Jamieson

“Yeah, look, there were a couple of things for me. Firstly, after the last 12 months, it’s had its challenges with MIQs (managed isolation and quarantine) and bubbles and spending a fair amount of time in that sort of set-up. It was important for me when I look at the schedule coming up over the next 12 months to try and find six weeks or eight weeks where I can spend some time at home”, said Jamieson as quoted by Cricbuzz.

“The second thing for me was, reflecting over the last 12-24 months and understanding that I’m very young in my [international] career and only two years in, that I wanted to have time to work on my game. I guess I didn’t really feel like I was where I wanted to be and if I want to compete for spots in the New Zealand sides moving forward across all three formats, I actually need to spend time working on my game and not just trying to play the whole time. Yeah, for me it was just about time at home and just time to work on my game”, he added.

The Auckland cricketer has been an integral part of the NZ’s red ball set up in the last couple of years and was adjudged the Man of the Match in the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship final against India. The 27-year-old was also included in the Kiwi squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 where Kane Williamson & Co. had made a maiden final appearance before losing to Australia in the summit clash.