‘Abhi maza aayega na bhidu’ – Fans react as Kolkata signs Jason Roy for Indian T20 League 2023

The Kolkata franchise have signed Jason Roy for the ongoing season of the Indian T20 League. The English batter will be replacing Shakib Al Hasan in Kolkata’s squad. His inclusion could provide balance to the team as Shreyas Iyer has already been ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury, while Hasan has opted out of the season due to international commitments.

Roy last played in the Indian T20 League in 2021 for the Hyderabad franchise. He has appeared in 64 T20Is for England, scoring 1522 runs at a strike rate of 137.61 with 8 fifties. He made headlines during the Pakistan Super League with his fiery knock of 145 off 63 balls as Quetta Gladiators successfully chased a mammoth total of 242 runs against Peshawar Zalmi.

Kolkata lost their first match against the Punjab franchise in a rain-affected encounter

Kolkata will be looking for their first win in the ongoing season after losing to Punjab in their first match of the season. Batting first, Punjab posted a total of 191 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, thanks to the knocks from the skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa. Dhawan got out after scoring 40 off 29 balls, while Rajapaksa went on to score 50 runs off 32 balls before getting out in the 11th over.

Chasing 192 runs, Kolkata were 146 for 7 after 16 overs before the rain decided to play a spoilsport. Andre Russell was the top scorer with 35 runs off 19 deliveries, while Venkatesh Iyer got out after scoring 34 off 28. The game didn’t continue, further, and Kolkata lost the game by 7 runs as per the DLS method. Arshdeep Singh was the star for Punjab by taking 3 wickets in three overs, conceding 19 runs.

Kolkata will now take on the Bangalore franchise in their second match of the season at Eden Gardens on April 6. This time, they will be looking to get back to their winning ways in front of their home crowd under the leadership of the stand-in skipper Nitish Rana.

Here’s a look at how fans have reacted to Kolkata’s new signing:

KKR fans: pic.twitter.com/ku71u5frCr

— SANKET (@oye_protein) April 5, 2023

https://twitter.com/Lords_131/status/1643532484750233600

https://twitter.com/SirOggyBilla/status/1643543968339353602

https://twitter.com/IamShaktiMann/status/1643533025643491328

https://twitter.com/ashishayush1177/status/1643531918494044160

Jason Roy doesn't need to change the jersey pic.twitter.com/8rzJOFkMFy

— Areeba (@areeba_chaudhry) April 5, 2023

https://twitter.com/ashishayush1177/status/1643538255055556608