Indian Premier League has had the world talking about its upcoming season and the changes that the BCCI has brought to the game this year. This year being the 13th edition of the IPL, will become the last year where teams can play with the existing team. For next year, every team has to release all their players and there will be a mega auction. During this mega auction, every franchise has to form their team from scratch. The mega auction being something that every team is worried about, concerns about the team players have started a bit too early for the Rajasthan Royals team.
Rajasthan Royals being the winner of the title for the first-ever IPL season were looking forward to this year’s IPL. The team has a mix of well-experienced players guiding all young talents from throughout the world who had their hopes for IPL 2020. Rajasthan would have liked to repeat history by becoming the champions for IPL 2020 and being the last team to win the title before the mega auction. But things did not work out the way they wanted it to be. Every passing day gives the fans lots of surprises and this came as a surprise even to the Rajasthan team management. The ace fast bowler Jofra Archer had to be ruled out of the tournament due to an elbow injury.
Rajasthan decided to retain this England based fast bower thanks to his extraordinary performance since his introduction into the team. He has always proved wickets when the team needed him to and made sure that the team is in good shape during the bowling. Archer was also the leading bowler for the Rajasthan Royals. This England fast bowler player the 4-day test match against South Africa and was rested during the match due to a sore elbow. His condition did not improve after that which led him to be in rest for the next 3 test matches as well. Archer’s condition was nowhere near good for him to play and so he was not selected for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka during the month of March.
Jofra Archer was able to take 15 wickets for the Rajasthan Royals team in the year 2018. The following year he came proved his worth and took 11 wickets for the team. His consistency and his persistence to do well for his team in every match he plays speak through his performance over the past couple of years. This also becomes the major reason to why he got retained by the Rajasthan franchise in the first place.
According to the England and Wales cricket board, Jofra Archer underwent some scans in London which confirmed his elbow injury. As of the report, he has a low-grade stress fracture in this right elbow. “ He will now commence an injury rehabilitation program with the ECB medical team with a view to be ready for the international summer campaign starting in June against the West Indies in a three-match test series,” said the board.
This long leave from Archer confirms that he will not be playing for the Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2020. His absence will leave a hole in the line up for the playing XI in the RR team and may even affect their campaign in this season of the IPL. The management will have to search for a suitable replacement to play in his place for this season from their players or have the luxury to buy a new player from the list of not bought players in the auction. Whatever be the case, Rajasthan franchise along with the England and Wales cricket board will wish for a speedy recovery of such a talented player.
