IPL 2024: Jason Roy reveals reason behind not joining KKR

England batter Jason Roy has pulled out of the Indian Premier League 2024 season. The Kolkata Knight Riders opener has opted to stay away from the 2024 edition of the tournament which is being held right ahead of the T20 World Cup.

The swashbuckling opener on 11 March revealed the reason behind his decision. In an official post via Kolkata Knight Riders, Roy said that it was important to take some time off and spend time with his family having been on the road over the past year.

"After much consideration, I have made the tough decision to miss this year's IPL. Having been away since the start of January I need to get back to my family and have a refresh before a very busy year ahead. i will be supporting my friends and teammates at KKR throughout the tournament and wish them the best of luck," Jason Roy said in a statement.

Kolkata Knight Riders replaced Roy with another ballistic England batter. The Shreyas Iyer side roped in Phil Salt as Roy's replacement.

Salt, who represented Delhi Capitals last season in the IPL, had gone unsold during the 2024 auction. The England wicket-keeper batter has been bought by KKR for his reserve price of 1.5 crore rupees, according to the statement from IPL's website.

"Kolkata Knight Riders have named Phil Salt as a replacement for Jason Roy after the latter pulled out of the upcoming TATA IPL 2024 owing to personal reasons. Having remained unsold in the auction after representing Delhi Capitals last year, this will be Salt's second season in the IPL," the Indian Premier League had said in its release.

"Bought at his reserve price of INR 1.5 crore, the aggressive wicket-keeper batter from England scored two consecutive T20I centuries against the West Indies in December last year. His 48-ball century in the 4th T20I at Trinidad is also the joint-fastest for England," the release further read.

Phil Salt's 2023 Season

The England batter recently became only the second player in world cricket to hit back to back T20I hundreds.

Before making an impact in the world stage, Salt played 9 matches for Delhi Capitals. During this time, Salt scored 218 runs at an average just above 23. However, his strike-rate was 163.91 and his highest score of 87 came in a chase against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.