swashbuckling England Opener Jason Roy on Thursday said missing the superstar duo of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer for the T20 World Cup is a “huge shame” but insisted that they have in his team to go so deep. There is enough depth.
The talismanic all-rounder Stokes, who played a key role in England’s maiden ODI World Cup win in 2019, is on indefinite leave for his mental well being and recovering from a finger injury.
Archer has ruled himself out after a recurrence of a stress fracture in his right elbow.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a problem – it’s a shame. It’s definitely a shame, the two of them not being here, but you know they’re on the same path of being fit and healthy again ,” Roy, who will be out for Delhi Bulls in the Abu Dhabi T10 League, said during a virtual interaction here.
England have suffered another setback with the injury of all-rounder Sam Curran, who was ruled out during the IPL due to a lower back injury.
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His brother Tom Curran has been included in his place in the England squad, while Reece Topley has also been added as a traveling reserve.
Roy, however, said that it is not a concern for him as he has enough in his bench strength to go all the way.
“Now you look at the depth of our team, the players we have, and it is still extremely impressive. The boys showed they did well in the practice match, and they’re training very hard, so I don’t think it’s a concern.
“We have players who will definitely rise to the occasion 100 per cent. They have more than enough skill. I can tell you that from training, there is more than enough skill that can take us forward. “
If the second leg of the IPL in the United Arab Emirates was any indication, English players struggled to adapt to the dull pitches on offer.
But the 31-year-old chose to part ways.
“I don’t think so. We’ve shown our skills on most tracks. The pitches aren’t terrible, they’re a little slow, so it’s not a problem.
“The amount of training we have had, we had camp, and then obviously a lot of boys were playing in the IPL, so there is a lot of feedback, knowledge about how to counter whatever you may face.
“So now I think the boys have the skills to counter whatever pitch they were given,” he insisted.
Boasting an impressive T20I strike-rate of 145.66, Roy said that he would feel comfortable after playing in the same venue in the IPL.
“There are a lot of benefits coming from IPL 2021 to T20 World Cup 2021. We get to experience things, train and play on these pitches, it takes a lot of time to interact with players from other teams. Boys who play in IPL have a big advantage.”
There is growing concern about England’s world No. 1 T20I batsman David Malan, who struggled on slow pitches in the two warm-up matches against India and New Zealand, scoring 18 (18 balls) and 11 (15 balls) runs respectively.
World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan has also been in poor form in the recently concluded IPL, scoring 133 runs at an average of 11.08 but Roy said the team is not openly concerned.
“We are working hard, a lot of England cricketers haven’t played much other than the IPL in the last few months.
“We are all shaping up well, they are getting into the swing of things. From my point of view every single batsman in our top order has the ability to win matches. I am very excited to see it,” he said.
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