England batter Jason Roy has been announced as the replacement for Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan in Kolkata Knight Riders for the Indian Premier League 2023. Roy, however, missed the first match against Royal Challengers Bangalore as he was unable to make it on time to the venue.
It was reported that Roy would join the team in Ahmedabad for their match against Gujarat Titans. However, he was not included in the playing XI as Kolkata opted to retain Afghanistan wicket-keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who had scored a half-century against RCB.
Roy had already joined the franchise as per his tweet on the eve of the ongoing match. The reason behind his exclusion from the team could be Kolkata’s desire to give more opportunities to Gurbaz.
It is important to note that Roy is not a wicket-keeper batter but a specialist batter. He has never kept wickets in any of his 185 international matches. Roy is set to return to the IPL after missing the previous season and will represent his fourth IPL team in his fourth IPL season.
Kolkata Knight Riders fielded four overseas players in the match against Gujarat Titans, namely Gurbaz, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Lockie Ferguson. This means that there is no way for Roy to bat as an impact player in the second innings. A team can only bring in an overseas player as a substitute if they have played only three non-Indian cricketers in the first place.
Overall, Jason Roy has joined Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2023 and is expected to make his debut soon. While he may not be a wicket-keeper batter, his prowess as a specialist batter will undoubtedly be valuable to the team in the upcoming matches.
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