England’s fast bowler Jofra Archer will not travel to India to join Rajasthan Royals in the 2021 Indian Premier League as he needs more time to regain fitness.
Rajasthan Royals’ premier fast bowler, Jofra Archer will miss the entirety of the IPL 2021 as confirmed by England and Wales Cricket Board on Friday, April 23. Jofra Archer had suffered a cut to his hand before the India tour. He had to undergo a surgery after the tour to manage the injury in the long term. This week, Archer just returned to bowling, and the ECB and Sussex medical teams are monitoring his progress.
“The England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed that England and Sussex bowler Jofra Archer will not play in the 2021 Indian Premier League. Archer returned to bowling this week with higher intensity, and the ECB and Sussex medical teams will continue to monitor his progress,”
the ECB stated in a media release on Friday.
Archer has been training with Sussex at Hove as he looks to regain full fitness. England’s coach Chris Silverwood and the Fast bowling coach Jon Lewis were present to see his progress on Thursday. Archer underwent a session of bowling and batting in the nets, followed by running drills.
Archer is expected to return to playing cricket in two weeks time if he could train pain-free. Archer could return to action in a second XI match in the fortnight followed by a championship game for Sussex in May.
“Archer will now step up his training regime starting next week and will be in full training with Sussex. It is expected that he will return to cricket in the next fortnight if he can continue to bowl and prepare pain-free,”
the release added.
Rajasthan Royals were initially expecting Jofra Archer to join the team, accounting for the pacer missing out on at least first four matches of the league phase. But their expectations were hit by ECB’s statement on April 11 that while Archer will return to training, there’s no date set for his return to playing.
Another obstacle in front of Archer was the mandatory seven-day quarantine requirement for players before entering the bio-bubble. All three parties, Archer, ECB and Rajasthan Royals, realized that it would hamper the pacer’s progress and bowling build-up.
The Englishman was the best player of RR in IPL 2020, where he won the MVP award for his incredible all-round show. Archer had picked 20 wickets in the season with an average of 18.2 and at a magnificent strike rate of 16.7. He had also added valuable runs at the death overs, scoring 112 runs at a strike rate of 177.8.
Rajasthan Royals in a precarious state
The Royals were one of the top contenders for the IPL trophy ahead of this season, considering the squad they had built. But they have been dealt with a series of massive blows and now they find themselves in a very unsettled situation.
After it was clear that Jofra Archer would be unavailable for the first half of the season, the Royals lost Ben Stokes as the all-rounder broke his finger in the tournament’s very first game and was ruled out of the IPL. Later, Liam Livingstone requested leave due to bio-bubble fatigue. Now the news of Archer not being available for the entire season could be the last nail in the coffin.
The Royals have announced talented South African batter, Rassie van der Dussen as one of the replacements.
The Royals have lost 3 matches out of four so far and are currently at the bottom of the table. It’ll be a major task in front of them to progress in league with their resources.
