Hard-hitting English batsman Jason Roy has asserted that the English side will make a strong comeback in the third T20I besides stressing the need to look after the mental well-being of the players. He also added that the Indian batsmen made light work of the chase but it was a tough wicket.
After registering a comprehensive win in the T20I series opener, things didn’t go the visitors way as India beat them in the second T20I on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The English batting tanked at the death and ended up with an average score of 164. It was never going to be easy to defend the target but England got off to a dream start and sent KL Rahul back early.
But then Ishan Kishan made a quickfire fifty followed by an unbeaten 73 by Virat Kohli which enabled India to win the game and level the five-match T20I series 1-1. However, Jason Roy, who made scores of 49 and 46 in the first two games, asserted that the side will bounce back strongly and termed the Indian team a ‘class’ unit.
“I am very confident that we can bounce back. India is a class team, but the way we started the series in the first game, was a bit more comprehensive than what they gave us last night. I think going into the third game, we are full of confidence, in the last eight overs of our batting yesterday, we found it a bit difficult, we are a fast learning side so I am confident that we will bounce back,” said Roy during a virtual press conference on Monday, reported TOI.
There has been a lot of talks around England’s rest and rotation policy. When asked about the same, the England opener remarked that the mental well-being of the players needs to be looked at and said it’s easier to make opinions sitting outside the bubbles.
“It is quite an easy stance to take from outside of these bubbles. I think the rest side of the things is coming as the mental well-being of players needs to be looked at. We are here for three weeks, but the Test team first went on to Sri Lanka, and then it was here. That is mentally taxing on you and your family, so from my point of view, they are just taking a mental rest and it is not anything physical. This environment is quite demanding.”
In the second game, Roy was slowly getting into his flow after making a rather sedate start but couldn’t capitalize as he was undone by Washington Sundar. He rued the fact that he couldn’t get the better of Sundar.
“I learnt that I am staying on my shots a little bit more. You saw a couple of my reverse sweeps, I missed some of the balls but I rectified it during the course of my innings and it is just a pitch where you have to pick your bowler. Unfortunately, the bowler I picked got me out, Washington was the guy I was looking to target, unfortunately, it did not go my way. It was a slow and tough pitch, they made light work of it,” he said.
The T20 World Cup will be played this year in India and the right-hander admitted that playing a long T20I series in India will help the side to do well.
“I think the whole squad has played a huge amount of cricket in the sub-continent, playing in this five-match series and then the ODIs, it will hold us in good stead. Last night, we made a few mistakes, it was all fun. Still looking for that big score, those 40s are great, but to get a competitive total in T20Is, you need someone getting a big score. There is still a lot to improve on,” said Roy.
India will battle against England in the third T20I on Tuesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium as both the teams will look to go one up one against each other.
