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Jason Roy admits a turbulent year dominated by injury, loss of form, off-the-field concerns and playing cricket out of bio-secure bubbles behind closed doors compromised his affection for the sport which has given him so much.

While the 30-year-old backtracked on an initial comment that he'd fallen out of love with cricket, he outlined his difficulties in 2020 which were only put aside when he played in the Big Bash League with Perth Scorchers.

Leading up to that point, which was Roy's first exposure to crowds since the Pakistan Super League which closed down in March when the Covid-19 pandemic began to take hold, it had been a gruelling period for the World Cup winner.

Poor returns in the Ireland and Australia ODIs (highest score of 24, two ducks) bookended a lengthy spell out with a side strain which forced him to miss the T20s against Pakistan and Aaron Finch's side.

He recaptured his best form upon his Surrey return, averaging 41.20 to guide his side to the T20 Blast final, where they were eventually pipped by Notts Outlaws. But by now playing to empty stands was par for the course.

^{Roy thrived playing in front of a crowd in the BBL}

Roy was selected for the farcical white-ball tour of South Africa, failing to pass 16 in the three 20-over matches before the ODIs were pulled amid a minor outbreak at the hotel housing both squads.

Though free to travel to Australia for the BBL, Roy had to quarantine for a fortnight before being able to join up with his teammates. The right-hander squeezed in two matches before the turn of the year, but with 60 per cent capacity at the WACA his appearances finally had meaning.

Galvanised by the support, Roy struck 355 runs in his 12 outings to help Scorchers reach the final, where they were beaten by Sydney Sixers in front of over 28,000 at the SCG.

It was that experience that reignited the fire within the Durban-native and has played a role in his impressive start to England's five-match T20 series in India, where he has recorded scores of 49 and 46.

"I am feeling good," he said ahead of the third game in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (March 16). "Training really well and in the nets feeling good and that is half the battle with professional cricket. You've got to feel confident and happy in yourself and enjoy yourselves.

"Since the Big Bash I've started loving my cricket again which is a nice feeling. I'm going out there and playing in front of 60,000 adoring screaming Indian fans which is second to none, that feeling."

When asked to expand on his feeling towards the game over the last 12 months, he clarified: "I've never stopped loving the game. The year that has just gone, no crowds being around, everything that is going out outside the game that is so much bigger than the game just puts loads of stuff in perspective. 

"Then you add on top your own personal work not going as well as you want it to it can get really on top of you. I hadn't played enough cricket - that was the simple thing. 

"So I needed to play in the Big Bash, so I psyched up for that, knew it was a long tournament. The moment I got there, I had 20-odd people watching me in the nets and I had this sense of adrenaline rush like belonging again. It was an incredible feeling. 

"I never fell out of love with the game but playing for a crowd makes you realise they mean a huge amount to us as sportsmen."

Though Roy was England's most dominant run-scorer once again, he was a feeling of a job only half-done when he succumbed to Washington Sundar, before India strolled to a seven-wicket success to level the series.

^{Without crowds and cooped up in hotel rooms - bubble life did not suit Roy}

It certainly won't go down as the most aesthetically pleasing innings in Roy's career and more could have come from it had he connected with several reverse-sweeps off Yuzvendra Chahal.

But the last few months has taught the opener to refrain from being critical in his post-game analysis of his performance. 

"I try to look at the bigger picture. If last night we'd gone and won that game I would have been ecstatic. 

"You lose the game and you start picking it apart your own innings how you left four or five shots that should have gone for four. As a batsman naturally you can be quite critical of yourself. 

"Since rekindling that love for the game I've tried to keep things more basic like I used to do in 50-over cricket and go with the flow. It is a hard sport not to get over-critical at yourself."

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