3 teams that will regret not signing Jason Roy in IPL 2023 auction
Jason Roy has been an incredible player for England in white-ball cricket. He has been one of the architects behind England's resurgence in limited-overs cricket.
He has an impressive strike rate of 137.61 in 64 T20I innings. However, he was left out of the English T20 squad for the T20 World Cup 2022 due to his indifferent form.
Roy impressed everyone with a century in the first ODI against South Africa at Bloemfontein. In 105 ODI innings, the opener averages a healthy 40.25 and has 11 hundreds to his name.
Scorecard: bit.ly/3kBfptx
11th ODI hundred for Jason Roy as England keep dominating 🤯
#SAvENG | 📝 Scorecard: bit.ly/3kBfptx https://t.co/wbZGcZZenY
Roy was unsold in the IPL 2023 auction. One of the reasons for the same could be that he pulled himself out of IPL 2022 after Gujarat Titans signed him at the IPL 2022 auction.
A few teams post the IPL 2023 auction have certain loopholes that could not be addressed during the auction. Roy could have been one such player who could have fit into their scheme of things.
On that note, here is a look at three teams that could have acquired Jason Roy at the IPL 2023 auction.
#1 Punjab Kings (PBKS)
The tactics of Punjab Kings during the IPL 2023 auction were indeed baffling. While the team spent Rs. 20 crores during the auction. A sum of Rs. 18.50 was spent to acquire Sam Curran.
Post-auction, PBKS have only 22 players in their squad and a sum of Rs. 12.20 in their kitty. Out of the eight allotted slots for overseas players, Punjab Kings could only fill seven and had one slot remaining.
Apart from Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow (subject to his fitness), the team lacks an experienced batsman in the top order, and hence the management could have bid for Roy in the IPL 2023 auction.
Jason Roy is an experienced player at the international level, having played for England for almost nine years. PBKS could have missed a trick by not acquiring Roy in the auction.
#2 Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Apart from K. L. Rahul and Quinton de Kock, Lucknow Super Giants lack an experienced batsman in the top order. Manan Vohra has been inconsistent in the recent past and cannot be relied upon.
The team has quite a few all-rounders in the middle order. The likes of Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, and Kyle Mayers, to name a few, are all formidable cricketers. Nicholas Pooran will be used as a finisher for LSG in IPL 2023.
The team could have done with the services of Jason Roy, who is handy at the top of the order and could have maximized the fielding restrictions in the power play overs.
He could have been included in place of Daniel Sams, who is unlikely to feature in many games in IPL 2023 considering the array of all-rounders in the LSG team.
#3 Gujarat Titans (GT)
Gujarat Titans acquired Jason Roy in IPL auction 2022. However, Roy pulled out of the said IPL season and was unsold in the IPL 2023 auction.
The defending champions could have done with the services of the English opener in IPL 2023. Apart from Shubman Gill, the team tried a few batsmen at the top of the order.
Matthew Wade did not enjoy much success in IPL 2022 with the bat. Wriddhiman Saha enjoyed success at the top of the order. However, it will be interesting to see if Saha can replicate these performances in IPL 2023.
Roy could have been the perfect opening partner for Gill. Roy's experience at the top of the order could have benefited GT, and the team could regret not acquiring him at the auction.