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New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson has decided to skip the IPL this season to stay at home, away from managed isolation and quarantines, saying he wants to improve his game so that he can compete in all formats for the Black Caps.
Jamieson was the second-most-expensive buy at the IPL auction last year with Royal Challengers Bangalore shelling out a massive Rs 15 crore for him.
"Yeah, look, there were a couple of things for me (for opting out),” Jamieson was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
"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," he added.
The tall bowling all-rounder made his international debut in February 2020 against India and his since featured in 12 Tests, five ODIs an eight T20Is.
"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 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.
"For me, it was just about time at home and just time to work on my game."
The 27-year-old said it was a difficult call to skip the lucrative league and he hopes to be a part of it in the future.
"It was (a difficult decision) initially. I sat with it for a fair while, and it was kind of lucky I had a couple of months in bubbles to sit in my room and have a think, but once I'd made the decision, it was a bit of a weight off my shoulder in a way, in terms of just focusing on myself and trying to get better.
"I'm still pretty young, I still think I'm young at 27 and I've still got a few years ahead, so this is just for this year and looking at what the next 12 months will look like, and hopefully moving forward there will be more opportunities to try and dip my toes into that environment."
Jamieson struggled in his maiden season, picking nine wickets in as many matches for RCB with an economy of 9.60. Reflecting on his season he said, "I don't think it's either good or bad, it's just another learning, another experience to have, and just trying to learn from situations."
"It certainly changed my life and yeah, it was a big moment that happened, but I guess just trying to learn from that, learn from the experience I had in the IPL, and more so the 12 months in general, and I guess some of the restrictions we had around cricket."