Moeen Ali cricket: Why is Jason Roy not playing today’s third T20I between England and Sri Lanka at Ageas Bowl?

Jason Roy not playing: England have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI for the third T20I at the Ageas Bowl.

During the third T20I of the ongoing Sri Lanka’s tour of England in Southampton, Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera has won the toss for the third time in a row. Contrary to the first two occasions, Perera has invited England to bat first today.

Having lost the series, Sri Lanka have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI in this dead rubber. While batsman Oshada Fernando has replaced Avishka Fernando in the XI, spinner Lakshan Sandakan has come in for Akila Dananjaya.

In the two innings that he opened the batting for Sri Lanka in this season, Fernando had scored a meagre six runs against the new ball. Dananjaya, on the other hand, had leaked 53 runs in his 5.1 overs without picking a wicket in two outings.

Why is Jason Roy not playing today’s third T20I vs Sri Lanka?

Much like the visitors, England have also made two changes to their Playing XI. Having restricted Sri Lanka on below par scores in the first two matches, England captain Eoin Morgan revealed that he wanted to bowl for the third time in a row.

It is worth mentioning that England have finally included all-rounder Moeen Ali into their Playing XI. While Ali has come in for opening batsman Jason Roy, Chris Woakes has replaced Mark Wood for this match.

Moeen Ali should be batting No3 in this England T20 team. If they really fancy Liam Livingstone (who is carded there) ahead of Moeen, he needs to be learning the role lower down

— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) June 26, 2021

Roy, who had scored 53 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 135.89, hasn’t been dropped but been rested as a precautionary measure. Readers must note that Roy has suffered from a tight hamstring.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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