Jason Roy to star in ECB’s ROY

Jason Roy to star in ECB's ROY

In 2015, debutant Vikramjit Singh directed the Bollywood film ‘Roy’, which starred Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Jacqueline Fernandez in lead roles. The film was not a huge success but its music track was appreciated. The story revolves around a filmmaker, who is directing movies around burglary and robberies.

England cricket’s director Andrew Strauss says that the name is just coincidence and the cricket board plans to release its own version of movie Roy. Why not? Jason Roy has been the talk of the town. Roy played magnificently in the first semi-final of the ICC World T20 2016 against New Zealand and steered his side towards a scintillating victory.

Roy took on the New Zealand bowlers right from the outset at Delhi and smashed a match-winning knock of 78 from just 44 deliveries. He was unstoppable and stole a victory from the hands of New Zealand. New Zealand was expected to win the tournament after staying undefeated in the group stage. Roy certainly disrupted their party.

Roy was also instrumental in getting the team off to a flying start against South Africa when they chased 230. He swept Dale Steyn for six in the powerplay overs.

Speaking to the writer, Strauss said, “This is the second time we have entered the final of a T20 World Cup and the main reason behind this has been Roy. He deserves such appreciation and a movie on Roy will further de-motivate Kevin Pietersen and his hopes of making a comeback will come to an end. Though we hope he repeats KP’s feat of 2010.”

While the movie Roy sees a character plotting heinous crimes like robbery, in the ECB film, Roy will be seen robbing wins and stealing dreams of teams like New Zealand and South Africa.  The film will highlight how Roy transformed into a batsman and further focus his run in the World T20 so far. Before that, there is the final game waiting for Roy as the manic batsman will look to script history in the ultimate battle of the tournament.

Strauss further said, “If Roy manages to win us the final game , he will be knighted at the Birmingham Palace and the five-year contract in the team will be issued to him, irrespective of how he fares in future.”

(Suraj Choudhari, an avid cricket follower who plays the sport at club level, is a staffer with Criclife)