New Delhi [India], April 12 : Star England batter Jason Roy opened up on why he opted out of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday saying that he to put his "mindset and body" first.
Roy joined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2023 as an injured replacement for INR 2.8 crore (about. US$341,000). He pulled out of the competition at the beginning of March citing personal reasons. He was replaced by Phil Salt, an England and Lancashire batter in the squad.
"I've not just woken up one morning and thought, 'You know what - I actually don't feel like getting on that flight to India'. A lot of thought has gone into it, and yeah, it's become far easier to talk about and a far easier decision," Roy said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Roy said that missing a tournament like IPL is a huge decision and missing the season feels like he owes them a huge amount.
"Missing this year's IPL was a huge decision, I think. KKR put so much trust in me by retaining me after a decent year last year and being available for them throughout the year and all the other competitions, you know, I felt like I owe them a huge amount. It was a very big decision, but a decision I came to just because it was my daughter's fifth birthday as soon as our first game was, there were a few things going on, I was quite tired after the start of my year," the 33-year-old player added.
The opener further stated that he is grateful to the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise for understanding his problem. He further said that he had a fantastic relationship with the franchise.
"I've come off the back of not a huge amount of cricket, so the last couple of months have really taken it out of me. And so I was very honest to KKR and we've got a fantastic relationship, so we were able to come to an agreement and stuff like that on why I wasn't coming. They completely understood so I'm very grateful to them for that. But I just had to put myself first, you know, just mindset and body," the right-hand batter concluded.
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