England opener Jason Roy has decided to stay away from the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was due to play for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) who had retained him after a brilliant performance in the last season. Roy had scored 285 runs in eight innings last year at a strike-rate of 151.59 with two fifties to his name. Interestingly, Roy is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with his team Quetta Gladiators making it to the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.
Roy has revealed the reason for missing the IPL stating that he wants to spend time with his family after being on the road for quite some time now. Moreover, a busy schedule is awaiting him with the cricketer set to participate in the Hundred and other T20 leagues. "After much consideration, I have made the tough decision to miss this year's IPL. Having been away since the start of journey, I need to get back to my family and have a refresh before a very busy year ahead.
"I will be supporting my friends and teammates at KKR throughout the tournament and wish them the best of luck," Roy said. This is the third time in four years that Roy has pulled out of the cash-rich league at the last time. He has done it before in IPL 2020 and IPL 2022 when he was picked by Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans respectively.
KKR have named an able and in-form replacement for Roy and he is England cricketer Phil Salt who had smashed consecutive centuries against West Indies within four days after going unsold at the auction in December 2023. Meanwhile, Roy is the second player this to pull with Gus Atkinson also doing the same last month. Dushmantha Chameera has been named replacement for him in the squad.
