Jason Roy- The story that seems near its end?
Jason Roy (PC: Twitter)
As soon as England shifted to their no-holds-barred approach after the 2015 World Cup blunder, their top order bludgeoned the bowling attacks. And, there was one man at the helm of things who made his presence felt - Jason Roy.
Eoin Morgan was always so sure to go for it in the first six, setting a proper foundation for big totals that set them apart in the game. With either of Jos Buttler or Jonny Bairstow putting up runs from one end, Roy was always at the other to give nightmare to the bowlers.
England almost had a similar batting line-up for the good part of past 5-6 years where the things were quite understandably settled, as much assurance was provided by the former 2019 World Cup winning captain.
However, with all the progress they were going through, Roy was dropped a month before the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, all of a sudden. A shock, in fact, a bigger shock that I really don't think anyone saw coming before the mega-event, atleast.
Dip in form that went too deep
Jason Roy (PC: Twitter)
Roy can finish matches at his best, and at his worst, he looks like a shadow of himself. I will just look at the numbers that he produced this year. 78 runs from six innings at a strike rate of around 77. The numbers don't look his, nor does he look like himself. To even think of it, the opening batter has been struggling in the Hundred too.
At the moment, he might be sitting in the corner cursing himself for the things he could have done differently. But, probably, the first of them could have been earning the faith of the new management.
A few months back, England were looking for a red-ball reset after some humiliating run of form in the longest format, but what no one thought they would go through was a white-ball reset. After the departure of Morgan, the Three Lions side looked at a new skipper Jos Buttler with a new coach Matthew Mott specifically for white-ball formats.
However, things escalated way too quickly for the 32-year-old Roy, who would have never thought he would be shown the exit door before the World Cup. Maybe, it could have a lot to do with the new captain-coach duo or even the Managing Director of English Cricket Rob Key having a say in his axing.
For those who have seen him play, the lazy elegance and ever-so-flawless-looking technique feel pleasing to the eyes. Just as his stay at the top of the order for a decent number of years, the numbers don't always justify how good or bad you are at times. And with a more than competent list of batters with the likes of Alex Hales waiting in their ranks for a reasonable chance, the door looks to be shutting down on the big-hitter.
But take no worries, if one can find a way to reach this far, there is always something bigger that could be coming to his path. Maybe even if it is one chance he would want to hold on to.
.jpg?im=Resize=(250, 250) "Arnav Chopra")
