Personal reasons have been cited as the reason behind Roy's decision to skip the upcoming competition. Salt signs up having represented Delhi Capitals last term but he went unsold in the auction
Kolkata Knight Riders have replaced one England opener with another having added Phil Salt to their squad for the upcoming Indian Premier League following the withdrawal of Jason Roy.
Roy has pulled out of the 2024 competition owing to personal reasons having been signed for 1.5 crore (approximately £150,000) in December's auction.
Salt represented Delhi Capitals last season - scoring 218 runs at 27.25 with a strike rate of 163.91 - but having been released was overlooked during the mini-auction, a decision which he described as "confusing" and "part of the lottery".
Those remarks came in between his maiden T20I centuries for England against West Indies. He struck 109 not out at Queen's Park before hammering 119 in Tarouba.
Salt admitted to being "confused" after he was overlooked in last year's IPL auction (Ashley Allen/Getty Images)
Roy is currently at the PSL playing for Quetta Gladiators (ASIF HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Though a late arrival, the Lancashire batter will provide competition to partner Venkatesh Iyer at the top of the order, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sherfane Rutherford also in contention.
It is the latest enforced change made by KKR who last month added Sri Lanka quick Dushmantha Chameera as a replacement for Gus Atkinson. The two-time champions get their campaign underway on March 23 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, this is the third occasion Roy has decided to miss the IPL, having missed two of the last four editions in 2020 and 2022.
Out of the England picture and released by Oval Invincibles, the structure of the remainder of his year remains to be seen. He is currently representing Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League.
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