England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Sunday that Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the One-Day Internationals in India as well as the start of Indian Premier League.
Earlier, England captain Eoin Morgan revealed that Archer is likely to pull out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against India putting in doubt his participation in the ensuing IPL season.
“Jofra Archer is returning to the UK for further management and investigation of his right elbow injury,” ECB said while announcing squad for the series.
“Archer’s elbow issue has deteriorated over the course of the Twenty20 International series and made it increasingly challenging for him to maintain performance levels. He has been deemed unfit for selection for the ODI series that features matches on 23, 26 and 28 March.
“The ECB medical team will assess the player and, together with Jofra, develop a treatment plan and a return-to-play schedule in due course. As a consequence, Jofra will miss the start of this year’s IPL,” the statement added.
The star pacer has been nursing an elbow niggle through England’s tour of India. The 25-year-old has aggravated his troublesome right elbow and Morgan said he’s not sure of his participation in the ODI series, starting in Pune from March 23.
According to a report on ESPNCricinfo, Archer was returning home after the T20I series and that his franchise — Rajasthan Royals — are considering back-up plans, including finding a replacement but are waiting for a formal communication from the ECB.
Morgan confirmed on Saturday that the injury was getting worse.
“Not quite sure yet (about his availability for the ODIs). We’re going to wait until tonight and tomorrow to see how Jofra has pulled up. He clearly had a progressive injury that has become worse and does need attention,” Morgan said after the fifth and final T20I here on Saturday.
“So it will be over to our medical team to make a decision and I hope that the decision that Jofra comes to will be the best for us in the long term.”
IPL is slated to begin from April 9 and Archer was the Most Valuable Player of the 2020 edition, and is a critical part of the RR set up.
“Most of our bowlers are normally carrying niggles, but certainly Jofra’s situation has definitely got worse. So, like I mentioned, it does need attention.
“I think it’s rare when a bowler isn’t managing pain, what they do is a tough job. If you ask any of them, are they ever pain-free, it’s a pretty rare instance if they say ‘yes’,” Morgan had added.
The 25-year-old Archer missed the second Test against India after an earlier injection to the elbow that has become of growing concern in recent months. He also sat out the fourth Test. Archer returned in the T20I series with a career-best 4/33 in the fourth game and played in all five matches.
England have a home Test series against New Zealand and India ahead of the T20 World Cup and then they travel Down Under for the Ashes. With a hectic calendar ahead, it’s unlikely that they would rush Archer’s recovery.
England will want Archer to be fully fit for the T20 World Cup campaign, which starts in October, and the Ashes series against Australia that follows. When asked this week about his plans for the rest of the year, Archer said only that he would do “everything in my power” to be at the World Cup.
England’s ODI squad:
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Livingstone, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
Also travelling with the squad: Jake Ball, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan
With PTI and AFP inputs
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