"Give him the opportunity through The Hundred and T20s" - Kevin Pietersen backs struggling Jason Roy to come good
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has urged people to leave Jason Roy alone and back the out-of-form opener to come good. Pietersen also believes the veteran should be in England's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Roy, one of England's first-choice white-ball players, struggled throughout the home summer. The right-handed batter managed only 76 runs in six matches, with a best of 27, and made no half-centuries in the ODIs either.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Pietersen said it was frustrating to see people write off the South African-born player at such a young age despite witnessing him perform well under Eoin Morgan's captaincy. Hence, the 104-Test veteran feels England have to back through The Hundred.
Jason Roy has had a grim summer for England in T20Is and his form is becoming difficult to ignore es.pn/3bc582V https://t.co/sl5HHIRxnN
Pietersen opined:
"Jason is 32 years of age and what I'm sick and tired of in this country is writing people off at such a young age. Jason is a World Cup winner, he's done an unbelievable job for Eoin Morgan."
He added:
"With smacking the ball and being a risk-taker, you are going to fail and when you start failing, failing can happen for a long time. Leave Roy. Give him the opportunity through The Hundred and T20s and back him."
Pietersen continued by saying that people will feel his absence if a new player doesn't come good in the T20 series in Pakistan:
"If Rob Key is listening, he is England's best player and he has been England's best player for a number of years. What they should be saying is 'back your best players'. If they replace him and put a new guy in for seven T20s in Pakistan and he fails, people start saying 'we need Roy for the World Cup'.
The right-handed batter, playing for the Oval Invincibles in The Hundred, perished for a first-ball duck in their opening game against the London Spirit. The 32-year old made a run-a-ball 10 against Welsh Fire on Sunday.
Jason Roy likely to retain his place for the T20 series in Pakistan
Despite his slump with the bat, the veteran will likely keep his place for the seven-game T20 series against Pakistan, starting on September 20th. The Pakistan tour will be England's first since 2005 as Jos Buttler's men warm themselves up for the T20 World Cup in Australia.
It's worth noting that the right-handed batter had a mediocre 2021 T20 World Cup, scoring 123 runs in five games at 30.75, striking at 138.20.