England captain Eoin Morgan has given an update on opener Jason Roy’s injury after his team’s 10-run defeat to South Africa in their final game of the Super 12s round of the ICC Men’s World T20 2021 on Saturday (November 6) in Sharjah.
During England's unsuccessful chase of the 190-run target against South Africa, Roy collapsed to the ground while completing a quick run in the first ball of the fifth over in Sharjah. The in-form opener, Roy, was seen hobbling and in tremendous pain with his left leg when he hit for a single.
The 31-year-old batter broke down in tears after he was forced to retire hurt during England's unsuccessful run chase and was later replaced by Moeen Ali. He scored 20 off 15 balls before leaving the field against South Africa. Roy was also seen in discomfort during the fielding on Saturday.
After the match, Morgan revealed that Roy has injured his calf muscle in the left leg and the injury will be assessed on Sunday (November 7). However, the skipper said Roy’s injury didn’t look great, but hoped for the best for the opener and the team, as England enters the knockout phase of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
Morgan said during the post-match press conference: “It’s his calf. It obviously didn’t look great. We’ll wait until tomorrow to see what his movement is like before we send him for a scan and go from there. Apart from that, can’t tell you much.”
He continued, “We’re all hopeful that he comes through in some manner or there’s some remedy to get him through one or two games, but we need to do what’s best for Jason and the team.”
When asked whether England would promote Jonny Bairstow to open the innings with Jos Buttler if Roy is eventually ruled out, the skipper said: “No, I haven’t. That’s the easiest way to put it, I haven’t, sorry. We do have a lot of depth, we've built a good white-ball group over the last few years, so really excited. Yes, really happy, we've topped the group and that's never easy.”
It would be a big blow for England if Roy is ruled out of the T20 World Cup in 2021. Morgan highlighted the importance of Roy in the team by saying, “He’s unbelievably important. He’s a guy that epitomizes everything that we are about in the changing room and the way that we play.”
He signed off by saying, “You see how commanding he is at the top of the order, not only in T20 cricket but 50-over cricket as well. Obviously, two different partners in the two formats. But yeah, he’s as close as we get to surmising how the changing room should play.”
(With PTI/ANI Inputs)
