T20 World Cup 2021 | Have been underestimated all my life, I thrive off that, says Adam Zampa ahead of final

The wrist spinner has left behind the fast bowling trio of Mitchell Starc (9), Josh Hazlewood (8) and Pat Cummins (5) by picking 12 wickets, only behind Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga (16). The 29-year-old's bowling average of 10.91 in the tournament has been the lowest by an Australian spinner across the ODI and T20 World Cups played over the years and he boasts the lowest economy rate (5.69) in the shorter version.

Zampa's career-best performance came against Bangladesh in the Super 12 round when he took 5/19, which proved to be vital as Australia chased down the 74-run target in just 6.2 overs to go miles ahead of South Africa’s Net Run Rate (NRR). In the semi-final against Pakistan, his spell of 1/22 restricted the run flow in the middle overs.

Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2021 final between Australia and New Zealand, the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament revealed that he has been underestimated since he was 15. 

"I have always been underestimated. Even as a 15 or 16-year-old growing up in the country, there was always a city guy that was better than me or there was always been someone that turned a leg-spinner more than I do. Even after this tournament, there'll be another series that comes up and I'll be underestimated again. I do thrive off that," Zampa was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Zampa’s teammate Marcus Stoinis showered praises on the New South Wales-born, saying that he has been super honest.

"He was brilliant (in the semi-final) and took complete control of his four overs and of the innings at that stage where (Pakistan) were going really well. The great thing about Zamps is he's super honest. He took five wickets the other night and he felt like he didn't bowl well. That's a quality of a good player when you're picking apart your own game and you understand exactly what you're doing," Stoinis added.