IPL Champs Rope English Swashbuckler, Jason Roy Signed for IPL 2023
Roy has earlier played for SRH, GL & DC (Twitter/JasonRoy20)
In a rollercoaster turn of events, the two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders have penned a deal with England's swashbuckling opener, Jason Roy, for the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. Roy has been signed as a replacement for Bangladesh maestro Shakib Al Hasan after the all-rounder had to revoke his IPL contract due to national duties.
As per IPL's media release, the English batter has penned a deal of INR 2.8 crore (£ 2,73,50) for the season from his base price of INR 1.5 crore.
Meanwhile, it has now been officially announced that their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the ongoing season, meaning Nitish Rana will lead KKR throughout the IPL 2023.
Earlier in the day, Punjab Kings also signed a replacement to bring in Gurnoor Singh Brar instead of an injured Raj Angad Bawa.
Jason Roy recent form
It has been an upheaval for Roy in the last six months as he was left out of England's T20 World Cup 2022 squad, which they later won, becoming the two-time T20 WC Champions. After that, he had an awful time in the inaugural SA20, but only to make up a dashing comeback to England's white-ball squads by smacking a century in the ODI fold.
Roy stretched his purple on the Bangladesh tour and the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2023), where he studded two centuries in three fixtures.
Jason Roy's T20Is Stats
The World Champion batter has had phenomenal numbers in T20Is playing for his nation, amassing 1522 runs after 62 matches at a strike rate of 137.61. Apart from dazzling 4271 runs in 116 ODI in the English shirt.
Jason Roy IPL Stats
Roy, who has already in the IPL, made his debut in 2017 for Gujarat Lions before representing Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals. Interestingly, it would be his first time in the KKR dugout.
In the 13 outings that he has made in the IPL, the right-handed opener had a sub-par record by scoring 329 runs in 13 matches, which included two half-centuries and zilch centuries.
Statistically, the Englishman has been captivating against the faster bowlers, but he has had noticeable struggles against the spinners, especially the left-arm orthodox tweakers and leg-spinners.
But to Roy's advantage, he will be playing most of his matches in Kolkata's Eden Garden, which is more pace-friendly than the other way around.
After getting a beating from Punjab's hands, Kolkata will next face Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata on Thursday. However, whether their latest recruit will be available by then is unclear.
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