Last year, Ben Stokes missed the first half of the IPL for Rajasthan Royals where they lacked the momentum which resulted in RR ending the league in the 8th spot. This year Rajasthan Royals (RR) have been dealt with a massive blow as it is confirmed that their pace mainstay Jofra Archer will be missing the first half of the IPL 2021.

Jofra has been suffering from an elbow injury for quite some time now and his injury aggravated after he participated in all the five T20 Internationals against India. He was quite impressive in the tournament and especially in the death overs.

According to a report by ESPNCricInfo, Archer would not feature in the upcoming three-game One-Day International series to be played in Pune between March 23-29. While the IPL begins April 9, Archer would be monitored by the ECB during this phase, allowing him to completely recover from the elbow injury.

Eoin Morgan Feels Archer’s Injury has Gotten Worse And It Needs Attention

Meanwhile, England’s limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan has stated that the ECB would take the call, citing Archer’s long-term fitness. Eoin Morgan would completely play it safe with Archer as the T20 world cup is approaching after IPL and Captain won’t be hoping for any injury from key players.

“We’re not quite sure yet. We’re going to wait until tonight and tomorrow to see how Jofra has pulled up. He’s clearly had a progressive injury that has become worse and does need attention, so it’ll be over to our medical team to make a decision and hopefully, the decision that Jofra comes to will be the best for us in the long term,” Morgan said during the post-match press conference on Saturday after the fifth T20I loss.

“I think it’s rare when a bowler isn’t managing pain – what they do is a tough job and if you ask any of them, are they ever pain-free, it’s a pretty rare instance if they say yes. Most of our bowlers are normally carrying niggles, but certainly, Jofra’s situation has definitely got worse, so it does need attention,” he added.

Jofra Archer is the main bowler for Rajasthan Royals and this will be a huge blow. While Archer is most likely to be fit for the second half of the tournament, the franchise has back-up plans ready if he entirely misses out. We might expect few changes in ODIs as Jofra Archer is now out for the injury and he’ll be ideally replaced by Reece Topley.