The Indian Premier League (IPL) has always been a marquee tournament as several high-profile players are involved. The best and top-flight cricketers from countries like England, Australia and South Africa are involved and it makes it a grand extravaganza.
Jofra Archer is another IPL superstar and has always attracted a lot of attention as he is a fantastic all-rounder. He has previously represented Rajasthan Royals (RR) and has been associated with 5-time IPL winners, Mumbai Indians (MI) for the past 2 years.
But this time, we will not be able to see him play in the cash-rich league of India as the apex body of cricket in England, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has issued a new directive to him.
He has been advised to skip IPL 2024 as England look to manage his workload ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The T20I tournament is in June and had Jofra Archer played in the IPL, he would have barely gotten rest ahead of the tournament in West Indies and USA.
Notably, Jofra Archer had recently signed a contract with ECB from the period of October 2023 and September 2025. Jofra hasn’t been playing any professional cricket since May 2023 and also missed the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
Jofra Archer witnessed a resurfacing of his elbow injury
In the ongoing IPL 2023, while playing for Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians, Jofra Archer’s recurrent elbow injury resurfaced. He played just 5 games for Mumbai Indians and bagged only 2 wickets.
Archer went to India as a part of England’s squad as a travelling reserve but left the country soon after he faced discomfort and pain during the practice sessions.
“ECB believes that it will be easier to manage Archer’s comeback if he is in the UK in April and May under its supervision than if he is in India on the books of an IPL team looking to get their money’s worth from him,” read a report from EspnCricInfo.
“We take that bet with him that we want him back fit and able to play for England, because of the upside. You start looking at things like the Ashes in two years, the T20 World Cup Jofra adds so much to that,” said Rob Key, who is the managing director of the ECB.
Jofra Archer is an explosive bowling all-rounder and has the ability to single-handedly change things with the ball and with the bat.
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