T20 World Cup 2021: "As a cricketer, you always have some darker thoughts going into your mind before the game" - England opener Jason Roy

England opener Jason Roy has opened up about the struggles and negativity around his own ability heading into matches. The explosive batsman did not have the best of outings against the West Indies in the Three Lions' first game at the ongoing T20 World Cup. However, he made amends for it with a sublime knock in England's win over Bangladesh.

Roy's ability to play left-arm spinners on slow surfaces has often been scrutinized, but he was at ease while facing Shakib Al Hasan during the run chase. He admitted that he has been working hard to ward off the threat offered by such spinners with the new ball. In an official release issued by the ICC, Roy was quoted as saying:

"I enjoyed that innings a lot. It's an area of my game I've been working extremely hard on slow pitches against left-arm spinners and the angle as such. It was a big game for me to put all my hard work I've been doing in the nets into play. Credit to the bowlers, we were chasing a total well below par but we still had to knock it off."

Roy attributed his improved approach to Liam Dawson, England's left-arm spinner, who has been working with Roy in the nets. He added:

"I think as a batter, as a cricketer, you always have some darker thoughts going into your mind before the game, 'What if, this can happen, this can happen.' But you've got to remind yourself that your training has been good, I've worked a hell of a lot against Liam Dawson in the nets. He's bowling so much to me and I've got to keep reminding myself to do what I do in training and things will be alright."

Jason Roy scored 61 runs off just 38 deliveries against Bangladesh to commemorate his 50th T20 International in style. He struck five fours and three sixes during his innings at the Shekih Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

For the complete T20 World Cup 2021 schedule, click here.

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I don't think Bangladesh are an easy team to beat: Roy

Despite the landslide margin of victory, Roy felt that England had to be at their best to beat Bangladesh. He lauded the side for having match-winners in their ranks. Roy added:

"I don't think they are an easy team to beat, they've got some matchwinners out there, some extremely good players. We came out and kept it very simple and stuck to what we do, we don't look too much into what a lot of other teams do, we make sure everything in our camp is right and we are doing our roles right."

England are sitting pretty at the top of their group with two massive wins under their belts. Their most recent victory against Bangladesh was by a margin of eight wickets with six overs to spare.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, risk an early exit to the tournament following successive defeats to Sri Lanka and England.