England's flamboyant batter Jason Roy has pulled out of the upcoming IPL citing extended stay in the tournament bubble, dealing a blow to his new franchise Gujarat Titans weeks before the event gets going.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, Roy informed the franchise of his decision last week. The Titans are yet to finalise a replacement. The 31-year-old South African-born English cricketer was signed by Gujarat Titans for his base price of Rs 2 crore at the mega auction.
The development is a big blow to the Gujarat franchise as Roy was the only specialist opener picked by them apart from young Shubman Gill. This is the second time the English player is pulling out of the IPL. He had earlier withdrawn from the 2020 edition due to personal reasons after being picked up by the Delhi Capitals for Rs 1.5 crore.
The 15th edition of the IPL is scheduled to begin on March 26 and will conclude in the last week of May. Last season, Roy had represented Sunrisers Hyderabad and played a few decent knocks before carrying his form to the Pakistan Super League this year, where he turned out for the Quetta Gladiators.
The PSL too was played in a bio-secure bubble.
He played only six matches for the franchise and still ended up as their highest run-corer with 303 runs at an average of 50.50 and a strike rate of 170.22. Notably, Roy was blessed with his second child in January. The IPL 2022 will be a 10-team event and will take place in Mumbai and Pune.
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