Roy picks Root over Kohli, Smith & Williamson as current best

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) England limited-overs opener Jason Roy said he would like to partner India white-ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma at the top of the order if given a chance to open the innings with any player in the world apart from his home nation.

Given a choice between Australia’s destructive opener David Warner and Indian maestro Rohit, Roy took the name of the latter, during an interview with Crictracker.

He was also asked to pick the current best batsman in the world between England Test captain Joe Root, India skipper Virat Kohli, Australia talisman Steve Smith and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

“I have to say one of my good pals Joe Root for sure, he’s an absolute gun,” he said.

Roy was a vital part of the England team that lifted the ICC World Cup 2019 on home soil. In seven innings at the showpiece event, the right-hander smashed 443 runs, including a century and four fifties.

Roy also had a major hand in the Super Over going towards England’s way. On the last ball, New Zealand needed two runs to win the title, Martin Guptill hit the Jofra Archer delivery towards Roy, who was fielding at deep mid-wicket. He gathered the ball in one go and threw it towards wicket-keeper Jos Buttler, who did the rest.

“I fumbled a couple of balls earlier and in a weird way, it was kind of a blessing. It told me to calm down, gather my thoughts, take my time and do the basics right. If that hadn’t happened and the ball came to me in the final delivery, there was a chance of me fumbling that one,” Roy said.

“Had I done that, I would have turned around and run out of the stadium and would have struggled to play cricket again, to be honest.

“Luckily I did the basics, got the ball to Jos and he did the rest. Jos demolished the stumps and years of hard work and dedication paid dividends for us,” he added.

–IANS

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