England’s Jason Roy heads to Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL for £275k
England cricketer Jason Roy has accepted a late offer to join Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The opening batter has headed to the subcontinent for the remainder of the Twenty20 competition, which started last week, after India’s Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the 2023 edition with a lower back injury.
Roy ‘excited’
The 32-year-old’s deal is said to be worth around £275,000, less than half the £650,000 that England team-mate Jonny Bairstow turned down from the league to focus on this summer’s Ashes. It means he will not be available for Surrey’s opening County Championship fixture against Lancashire today.
“I just wanted to say how excited I am to put the KKR jersey on in this year’s IPL” he told the Knight Riders’ Twitter.
“I am excited to be over there to join up with a great squad and great management team so thank you very much for the opportunity and I’ll see you all very, very soon.”
The Knight Riders boast West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell and New Zealand bowling pair Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson.
The franchise are next in action this afternoon against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.