Gujarat Lions' English recruit Jason Roy flies back home

Jason Roy has played a big part in England’s revolutionary revival in ODI cricket. Post their embarrassing defeat in the World Cup 2015, England have been one of the better limited-overs sides going around in international cricket. Roy’s enterprising batting at the top of the order has helped the team move on from their traditional style of playing ODI cricket. Due to his exploits with the national team, Roy was picked for the first time to play in the IPL.

The 25-year-old was acquired by the Gujarat Lions for his base price of Rs 1 crore. Due to the rule which allows only four overseas vacancies in an XI, Roy could only star in three games for GL this season. The opener couldn’t make a big impact as he managed to score 59 runs in those games but his strike rate was an impressive 147.50.

He will not take any further part in the IPL as he flew home to prepare for the two-match ODI series against Ireland which starts on May 5. England, who were the finalists in the last edition of the Champions Trophy, are scheduled to play another ODI series comprising of 3 games against South Africa in the last week of May. The focus is to prepare adequately for the big tournament which starts on June 1.

The Surrey lad has been picked in all three squads as he is of immense value to the one-day set-up. In 38 ODIs Roy has 1411 runs to his name at 40.31. His strike rate of 104.67 has been excellent to go with his consistency at the top of the order.

England will play the inaugural game of the Champions Trophy on June 1 against Bangladesh at the Kennington Oval in London. They will play two more league games against New Zealand and Australia on June 6 and June 10 at Cardiff and Birmingham respectively.