Give Jason Roy opportunity through The Hundred and T20Is to find form again: Kevin Pietersen
India Today
Jason Roy struggled to score runs during the series against India and South Africa. He scored only 197 runs in 11 white-ball games this summer.
Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has urged the England think tank to give Jason Roy more opportunities through The Hundred and T20Is to find form ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022.
Roy, a member of the 50-over World Cup-winning side in 2019, struggled to score runs during the series against India and South Africa. The top-order batter played a crucial role during the 2019 ICC event, amassing 443 runs at an average of 63.29. During this year's summer, Roy managed to score only 197 runs in 11 white-ball games.
"Jason Roy's a World Cup winner. He's done an unbelievable job for Eoin Morgan. Morgan told him to go out and smack that ball," Pietersen told Sky Sports. "Now with smacking the ball and being a risk taker, you’re going to fail. And when you start failing, failing could happen for a long time."
"He is your best player and he has been your best player for a number of years. What they should be saying, and I think this is what is actually happening behind the scenes, back your best players."
Pietersen further asked the management to back Roy the way Zak Crawley has been receiving support in Test cricket. "Give Roy the opportunity, through The Hundred and through those T20s to find form again.
"Back him! They've done it with Zak Crawley in Test matches. Ben Stokes has categorically said that Crawley will play for the rest of the season. They need to do that with Jason Roy and the T20 team."
England will travel to Pakistan to play seven T20Is between September 20 to October 2, which could provide Roy with an opportunity to resolve his form issues. The Three Lions will then play Australia in the three-match T20Is before the start of the T20 World Cup 2022.
