Jofra Archer is reportedly going to miss the first four Rajasthan Royals matches in the IPL this year. their first four matches are scheduled against Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Let’s not forget that the Royals ended the last season as the 7th ranked team in the points table and in this format, one cannot afford to even let go of one game casually. So the absence of Jofra Archer may affect the campaign of RR at the very beginning.
Absence of Jofra Archer May Affect RR
As informed by the England Cricket Board, “Archer is going to be administered one more injection in his right elbow before being assessed by the ECB medical staff around mid-April, after which a call would be taken on whether he would return to India for the IPL or not.”
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Absence of Archer
The Royals bought Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman in the IPL auction last month, but the absence of Archer may change their fortune of the season. Archer took 20 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 18.25 and economy rate of 6.55. he delivered most number of dot ball in the season i.e 175 dots in 55.4 overs conceding 365 runs. Archer was outstanding in the powerplay and second highest wicket-taker in those crucial overs with Trent Boult from Mumbai Indians leading the chart. The sight of Archer opening with the new ball is enough to threat the batsmen.
The problem with Rajasthan Royals with that they cannot trust others as much as they can depend on the English pacer. It was in fact, clear in the last campaign when Archer’s efforts went in vein as he hardly got any support from others in the squad. Archer was bit expensive at the death but remained effective in the middle. Morris and Rahman in all likelihood will be opening the attack for Rajasthan Royals. But inconsistency and injury are the problems the franchise might have to deal with going ahead. Talking about the rest of the options, how they deal with the pressure will be interesting to watch.
The Royals are also going the miss Jofra Archer, the batsman at times. He batted at a strike rate of 180 to amass 113 runs in just 63 balls. In a shaky situation when the lower order must resist, Archer comes in handy. Rajasthan Royals will be expecting the first four matches to go in their favour before their star pacer joins in. However, if Archer has to miss the entire season due to his post-surgery issue the Royals will be in big trouble.
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