England fast bowler Jofra Archer, who has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League with an elbow injury, will undergo surgery on his right hand on Monday.
The right arm pacer has had a torrid time with injuries for a few months. The elbow injury, in particular, has troubled Jofra gravely. Archer played the first and third Tests against India with a painful right elbow. He also participated in the T20I series after taking an injection, where his injury was aggravated.
Archer had suffered a cut to his hand in January, which had been managed on tour, but specialist advice has now deemed a surgery as necessary.
ECB revealed that Archer suffered a cut to his hand while cleaning at his home shortly before flying to India in January. Archer returned back to the UK on Tuesday and underwent a scan and a consultant review on his hand.
England fast bowler Jofra Archer will undergo a procedure to his right hand following a scan and subsequent consultant review since he returned to the UK on Tuesday,
the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Saturday.
He has also had a further injection for the right elbow injury that had seen him declared unfit for selection for the current ODI series versus India. The procedure on Jofra’s hand will take place on Monday 29 March so he can recover during the planned break following his elbow injection.
the ECB added.
When England’s limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan was asked earlier about Archer’s availability for the IPL, Morgan was skeptical.
To be honest, I cannot give a medical opinion. We know the situation with his elbow, it has progressively gotten worse. We know that it needs investigation, only time will tell. He has given his heart and soul to us since he has been involved so we will give him full attention in order to try and bring the best result possible,
said Morgan during a virtual press conference on Monday.
Rajasthan Royals were braced with Archer missing out the first half of the tournament but with the required surgery on his hand, they won’t have his services for the whole season.
What impact will Jofra Archer’s unavailability have on Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals had a great outing in this year’s IPL auction which was held in February. The inaugural title-winning franchise acquired the services of Chris Morris for the highest ever amount in IPL history at whooping 16.25 crs.
The Morris buy had instantly made Rajasthan Royals one of the favourites for this edition of IPL. Morris and Archer, two of the best T20 bowlers in the world, bowling together would have been a nightmare for the opposition teams.
It looked like Rajasthan Royals had plugged a hole in the side with Morris but now the floods have opened with Jofra’s unavailability.
Archer has been the spearhead of the franchise’s bowling attack for 3 years. Jofra has taken 46 wickets in 35 matches at an economy rate of 7.1 in his IPL career so far.
Archer had a phenomenal season last year when he terrorised the batsmen with the new ball. He took 20 wickets at an economy rate of 6.56 in IPL 2020. His bowling strike-rate of 16.70 was also among the best in the tournament. The England fast bowler also delivered an incredible 175 dot balls.
Archer also made some significant contributions for the Royals with bat in hand, as he scored 113 runs at a strike rate of 179.36. Out of the 61 deliveries he faced, 10 of them were sent into the stands. An exemplary performance rightly earned him the Most Valuable Player award for the 2020 edition.
It’s going to be an extremely hard task for Royals to fill the void created by the absence of such an irreplaceable player.
