Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The star England pacer Jofra Archer will notably not feature in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), reportedly set to take place in March-April window. As per recent reports, Archer did not register his name for the IPL 2024 mini-auction after he was released by the five-time champions, Mumbai Indians, last month.
However as informed by ESPNcricinfo, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had asked the English pacer to pull out of IPL 2024 in order to manage his workload seeing the T20 World Cup also set to take place next year in June. Despite Rob Key, the Managing Director of England men’s cricket team, repeatedly focusing on the board working with franchise leagues, the ECB believes that Archer’s return can be managed well if he continues to stay in the UK.
However, an official statement from the ECB or the member of the board is still awaited on the same, franchises believe that recurring injury to Archer has been the key reason behind MI releasing the pacer. Meanwhile Rob Key has assured to review the timeline of Archer’s injury, having mapped a detailed recovery programme. “We take that bet with him that we want him back fit and able to play for England, because of the upside,” Key quoted as informed by ESPNcricinfo.
Additionally, Archer has not played any professional cricket since May 2023 when he suffered recurrence of an elbow stress fracture while plying his trade for Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He although travelled to the Indian subcontinent as a travelling reserve for the ODI World Cup 2023 but failed to regain full fitness due to the same.
The 28-year-old pacer also does not feature in the list of players registered for the 2024 IPL auction, which includes 34 England cricketers. However, he has been retained by the MI Cape Town as ‘wildcard’ player for the second edition of the T20 league.
