"Puts GT in a soup" - Aakash Chopra on Jason Roy pulling out of IPL 2022
Former India Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Gujarat Titans could be in big trouble without Jason Roy, who pulled out of IPL 2022, citing bubble fatigue.
The new IPL franchise had acquired Roy at his base price of Rs 2 crore at the recent mega auction. However, it looks like the Titans may have to go about their business without the Englishman. As per reports on ESPNCricinfo, the 31-year-old opener intimated the franchise about his decision last week.
Chopra feels while Roy's absence would put Gujarat 'in a soup', the opener's future participation in the competition also becomes doubtful. Taking to Twitter, Chopra wrote in this regard:
"Bio-bubble fatigue is REAL. Nobody should ever trivialise it. One could understand why Roy has pulled out of the IPL. That said…it puts GT in a soup. And IPL remembers who pulled out & when…and that affects future purchases of the same player. It’s not heartless but pragmatic.."
Bio-bubble fatigue is REAL. Nobody should ever trivialise it. One could understand why Roy has pulled out of the IPL. That said…it puts GT in a soup. And IPL remembers who pulled out & when…and that affects future purchases of the same player. It’s not heartless but pragmatic..
Meanwhile, this is not the first time Roy has pulled out of the IPL. In 2020, Delhi Capitals signed the dashing opener for Rs1.5 crore, but he opted out, citing personal reasons.
Roy went unsold in the IPL 2021 auction, but was drafted in by Sunrisers Hyderabad as Mitchell Marsh's replacement. So far, Roy has accumulated 329 runs in 13 IPL games at an average of 29.90 and a strike rate of 129.01, including two half-centuries.
Aakash Chopra unhappy with Gujarat Titans' middle-order picks
The 44-year-old cricketer-turned commentator believes the Titans were not up to the mark with their planning ahead of the auction. Chopra seemed miffed with Gujarat shelling out so much money for David Miller, who has largely been inconsistent in the tournament.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra said about the same:
"I am not at all happy with David Miller's purchase. He might prove me wrong; he has done once earlier also that if it is in the arc, it goes out of the park. It might happen again, but they spent too much money."
He added:
"They could have picked Sam Billings; they would have got him cheaper than Miller; he would have been another wicketkeeping option. There were better middle-order batters - I thought about Rassie van der Dussen; I was thinking about Steve Smith also, or I was even thinking that you could have kept Ajinkya Rahane."
Gujarat will rely heavily on their captain Hardik Pandya to lead from the front if they want to make it to the playoffs in their maiden IPL campaign.