England's flamboyant batter Jason Roy on Tuesday pulled out of the upcoming IPL citing extended stay in the tournament bubble, dealing a blow to his new franchise Gujarat Titans weeks before the event gets going.
The 31-year-old South African-born English cricketer was signed by Gujarat Titans for his base price of ₹2 crore at the mega auction.
"It's with a heavy heart I have decided to pull out of this year's tournament. I want to thank the management and the captain Hardik for putting your faith in me and picking me in the auction," Roy wrote on his Twitter handle on Tuesday.
"However, with everything going on in the world over the last 3 years it's added up and taken it's toll on me. I feel it's only right I spend some quality time with my family.
"As well as spending time working on myself and my game over the next couple of months leading into a very busy year. I will be following each game of the Titans and backing them to lift the trophy in their first year of the tournament."
The development is a big blow to the Gujarat franchise as Roy was the only specialist opener picked by them apart from young Shubman Gill.
This is the second time the English player is pulling out of the IPL. He had earlier withdrawn from the 2020 edition due to personal reasons after being picked up by the Delhi Capitals for ₹1.5 crore.
The 15th edition of the IPL is scheduled to begin on March 26 and will conclude in the last week of May.
Last season, Roy had represented Sunrisers Hyderabad and played a few decent knocks before carrying his form to the Pakistan Super League this year, where he turned out for the Quetta Gladiators.
The PSL too was played in a bio-secure bubble.
He played only six matches for the franchise and still ended up as their highest run-scorer with 303 runs at an average of 50.50 and a strike-rate of 170.22.
Notably, Roy was blessed with his second child in January.
The IPL 2022 will be a 10-team event and will take place in Mumbai and Pune.
