Jason Roy is under severe pressure after the England batsman failed again in the 3rd T20I against South Africa in Cape Town.
The 30-year-old has been a shoo-in in white-ball cricket for several years, getting his country off to flying starts by destroying opposition attacks.
He’s been a key part of England’s white-ball revival since the disastrous 2015 World Cup.
However, in recent times, while others have shone, the powerful right-hander has struggled.
In 2020, Roy has only scored 102 runs from eight ODI innings’ at an average of 12.75. Those numbers sit in stark contrast to his returns in 2019, when he averaged over 70, scoring three centuries and six fifties.
Now, that slump in form appears to be translating to the T20I arena, too.
Roy was retained at the top of the order for the three-match series against South Africa, with his former opening partner Jonny Bairstow dropping down to number four.
It was a big showing of faith in the Surrey man but he didn’t repay it with big contributions.
England won all three matches to clinch a comfortable series win as Bairstow, Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler all starred with the bat.
Roy could only muster a total of 30 runs from his three innings, though, and looked short of rhythm after opting to sit out of the recent IPL.
While every other member of the top four looks in tip-top shape, Roy is finding ways to get out, especially against spin, and with a T20 World Cup on the subcontinent less than a year away, that’s a bad habit to develop.
As Nasser Hussain rightly pointed out, Roy has a lot of credit in the bank due to his past exploits and it’s true that his failures in South Africa may not prompt action from the England selectors.
He is now very much a man under pressure, though, and results will have to come sooner rather than later.