IPL franchisee Delhi Capitals suffered a major blow ahead of the upcoming thirteenth season of the Indian Premier League as their belligerent opener Jason Roy has opted out of tournament.

The news of Roy withdrawing from the tournament came just a few minutes after he was ruled out of England's 3-match T20I series against Pakistan due to side strain.

Delhi Capitals have roped in uncapped Australian speedster Daniel Sams as Roy's replacement for the 13th edition of the IPL which gets underway in the United Arab Emirates from September 19. The left-arm seamer had an outstanding stint with the Sydney Thunders in the 2019/20 Big Bash League, where he bagged a whopping 30 wickets. His stellar showing with the ball in the BBL helped in book a place into the national squad for England tour.

The right-handed seasoned English opener was bought by Delhi Capital for a sum of Rs 1.5 crores, which also happened to be his base price in IPL 2020 auction.

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Roy is expected to be fit for the six white-ball matches against Australia and the reason behind his decision to opt out of IPL 2020 is not known yet.

Roy's absence is not going to have a major impact on Delhi Capitals batting unit as the team have quite a few batsmen who can don the opener's hat besides their seasoned opener Shikhar Dhawan.

India ODI discard Ajinkya Rahane who is eyeing a comeback into the limited overs squad and Prithvi Shaw are the other batsmen who can partner Dhawan through the season. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant and Marcus Stoinis have also opened at the senior level.