"Can't wait to see him open" - Fans erupt as KKR sign Jason Roy for IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have signed England's swashbuckling opener Jason Roy after Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan bowed out of IPL 2023 due to international commitments and personal reasons.

The Kolkata-based franchise bought Roy for Rs 2.8 crore, more than his base price of Rs 1.5 crore.

So far, the 32-year-old has represented the now-defunct Gujarat Lions (2017), Delhi Daredevils (2018-19), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2021) in the Indian Premier League. The right-hander, however, didn’t get enough opportunities in his previous stints, scoring just 150 runs in five games during IPL 2021, which includes a half-century.

Roy, though, enjoys a brilliant track record in T20s, having had the experience of playing in the Big Bash League (BBL), The Hundred, SA20, Pakistan Super League (PSL), and Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The right-hander has played 313 T20s, scoring 8,110 runs at a decent strike rate of 141.90, which includes six centuries and 53 fifties.

The England batter smashed 145 off 63 balls for Quetta Gladiators against Peshawar Zalmi in the recently concluded PSL 2023. Prior to that, he struck 132 off 124 balls in the second ODI of the three-match series against Bangladesh last month.

Roy is likely to strengthen KKR’s batting unit in the absence of regular captain Shreyas Iyer, who is recovering from a recurring back injury since December last year. He recently underwent surgery which will keep him off the field for at least three months.

Full list of KKR players for IPL 2023 ft. Jason Roy

Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Nitish Rana (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson (hamstring injury), Shreyas Iyer (back injury), Jason Roy.

KKR lost their opening IPL 2023 game against the Punjab Kings by seven runs via the DLS method. They will look to register their first win of this season against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as they return to their den (Eden Gardens in Kolkata) on Thursday, April 6.

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