The news of England’s marquee fast bowler Jofra Archer landing in Bangalore has set the rumours flying all over the internet ahead of the start of the IPL 2024 season. But the truth is far from it.
Archer is in fact in Bangalore, but not for IPL. He arrived in India to attend a pre-season camp with his County side Sussex.
The English domestic season is set to start next month, and as per reports, Jofra Archer is targeting a strong and injury-free campaign with Sussex to put himself in contention for the T20 World Cup – scheduled to take place from June 1 in the USA.
Jofra Archer, bowling for KSCA XI against Sussex, in a warm-up game in Bengaluru 😜pic.twitter.com/0pa2LJzVnG
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) March 15, 2024
Jofra Archer Played Only 5 Matches For Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians bought Jofra Archer for INR 8 crores in the IPL 2022 mega auction. The English bowler, however, featured only in five matches in IPL 2023, missing the entire IPL 2022 season as well, due to injuries. MI released Archer before the 2023 IPL mini-auction, where he went unsold.
Jofra Archer Is Critical For England’s Chances In 2024 T20 World Cup
Despite playing only seven white-ball games for England since 2021 due to injury-related issues, there’s no denying Archer is a premium fast bowler. When on song, he is as lethal and critical for England, as is Jasprit Bumrah for Team India, or Shaheen Afridi, and Mitchell Starc are for Pakistan and Australia respectively.
England’s limited-overs captain Jos Buttler also reiterated that Archer is someone who can be the difference in big tournaments.
“For Jofra, we all know just what a special cricketer he is, and it’s been a tough few years for him not being able to get on the park and perform, but with someone like him who is such a superstar, you’re always optimistic that with the physios and doctors working, his body will just allow him to get back where he was,” said Butler, via PlanetCricket.
“I know how hard he’s been working at it and of course how desperate he is to come back. A couple of times (I’ve spoken to him). It’s really exciting for him that hopefully he’s going to get back to performing because as a captain, he’s someone you want to throw the ball to,” he added.
England will return to action when they host Pakistan in May for the four T20 internationals.
