The struggling Rajasthan Royals outfit have been dealt a big blow in their IPL 2021 campaign as they will be without Jofra Archer for the rest of the tournament.
The ECB confirmed on Friday that Archer will not be returning to India for the IPL this year.
“Archer returned to bowling this week with higher intensity, and the ECB and Sussex medical teams will continue to monitor his progress. Archer will now step up his training regime starting next week and will be in full training with Sussex. It is expected that he will return to cricket in the next fortnight if he can continue to bowl and prepare pain-free. The ECB will confirm which matches he is expected to play in due course,” the ECB said in a statement.
Archer recently had surgery to remove a glass fragment from his hand.
The pacer had surgery on the middle finger of his right hand on 29 March, immediately after returning from England's tour of India, during which the injury was managed successfully.
Archer had also taken an injection to deal with an ongoing problem in his right elbow, which had flared up in India and ruled him out of the ODI leg of the tour.
Archer thus becomes the second England player with RR to be ruled out for the season after all-rounder Ben Stokes returned to the country with a finger injury he sustained while fielding in RR's first match of the season. In their absence, RR have struggled to get going and find themselves bottom of the table with three losses and one win in four matches.
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