The batter, who was signed by Gujarat Titans, has cited the challenge of staying in the tournament bubble for an extended period
If Roy were to be in the bubble throughout the IPL, he would probably need to be away from his family – which includes his second child who was born in January – for more than two months, with the tournament set to begin on March 26 and end with the final on May 29.
Roy is not the first player to pull out of the IPL citing bubble fatigue during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has put severe restrictions on movement in the last two years. Several players have withdrawn from the IPL in the past, both before the start of seasons as well as during the tournament, citing a need to keep themselves fit, especially mentally, for marquee bilateral series and World Cups. As it happens, the T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November 2022.
Titans would have been the fourth franchise Roy would have played for in the IPL, having earlier represented Gujarat Lions (2017), Delhi Daredevils (2018) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2021). He went unsold at the 2021 auction but was drafted in as a replacement for the Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh. Overall, Roy has scored 329 runs in 13 IPL matches at an average of 29.90 and a strike rate of 129.01, including two half-centuries, which came in his respective team debuts for the Daredevils and the Sunrisers.
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo