'It was Really a Tough Call': Jos Buttler On Telling Jason Roy About WC 2023 Snub
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Jason Roy has featured in 116 ODIs [X.com]
On expected lines, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) made a last-minute change in their men's World Cup 2023 squad, roping in youngster Harry Brook and replacing veteran Jason Roy.
Roy has been struggling with back spasms lately and starred for England last year in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Down Under.
Speaking about Roy's omission, skipper Jos Buttler opened up about taking upon the responsibility of being the bearer of bad news for the former. As quoted by Sky Sports, the 33-year-old explained how difficult it was to axe the experienced opener from the ODI squad.
Here's what Buttler said
"I don't think any time is easy. It's part of the job as captain that is not enjoyable, whether they're great friends or not, it's not a nice job to do. I certainly feel like it's my responsibility to give that news. He's a really great mate of mine, so it was a really tough call to make."
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) star maintained that Roy like other fringe players can look forward to travelling to India as a reserve.
"Jason will be the top-order reserve, absolutely. Harry, we do feel gives us versatility - he can cover one to six in the batting order which is obviously something that's advantageous in a squad. But good players miss out, it's the very brutal nature of sport. There's plenty of people outside the 15 who will have felt that they were in with a really good chance of a spot."
In 116 ODIs, Roy has scored 4,721 runs with 12 centuries and 21 fifties.
Meanwhile, Brook after a string of poor outings, found form in the recently concluded The Hundred 2023 and T20Is against New Zealand to earn a well-deserved callback.
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