T20 World Cup 2021: "Huge blow for England to lose Jason Roy, he takes pressure off Buttler" - Steve Harmison

Former England pacer Steve Harmison has described the injury to opener Jason Roy as a huge blow to the team ahead of the knockouts. Pointing out that Roy plays a huge role in taking the pressure off Jos Buttler in the powerplay, Harmison lamented that he doesn’t see the England batter recovering in time for the knockout games of the T20 World Cup 2021.

Roy retired hurt in the fifth over of England’s innings during their chase against South Africa in Sharjah, having picked up a leg injury. England went on to lose the high-scoring match by 10 runs but progressed to the semi-finals by topping Group 1.

Reacting to Roy’s injury, Harmison admitted during a discussion on ESPN Cricinfo:

“Huge blow for England to lose Jason Roy. I don’t see him recovering in time for the semis or final with an injury like that. I look at Jason Roy in a different way. He’s had troubles against spin bowling in the powerplay. He has worked so hard to get himself into a position to hit this tournament hard. He was helped by the IPL, when he was with the Sunrisers just before the tournament started.”

Explaining what England are going to miss in Roy’s absence, the former speedster added:

“To get the injury that he has got, it’s a huge blow for Jason and for England. You could see in the glimpse of that innings when he got 20 from 15, he takes the pressure off Buttler in that first half of the powerplay. He is going to be difficult to replace for England.”

Buttler perished for 26 against South Africa, immediately after Roy retired. Some good strokeplay from England’s middle and lower order took the team closer to the target before Kagiso Rabada’s last-over hat-trick had the final say.

“Don’t think it’s an absolute disaster”- Tom Moody on Jason Roy’s chances affecting England

According to former Australian all-rounder and renowned coach Tom Moody, England should be able to overcome Roy’s absence. He stated that one or two big names cannot define the fortunes of a great team. Moody elaborated:

“Roy is a valuable player and a match-winner. But, at the end of the day, these unfortunate things happen. Great teams manage to make the necessary changes within their team. The logical thing would be Sam Billings coming into the side. They would have to consider moving Malan or Bairstow to the top with Buttler. Not an ideal situation for England but I don’t think it’s an absolute disaster. You don’t want to lose a high-quality player like Roy but they have got the bench strength.”

Having qualified for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021 as the top side from Group 1, England now await the results of the other group. They will face the second-placed team from Group 2 in the semis, while Australia will take on the topper from Group 2.