Jofra Archer planning late entry in IPL 2024? England pacer shatters Sussex teammate's stumps playing in Karnataka

Has the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) changed its stance about Jofra Archer's IPL 2024 participation? Is there an effort to sneak Archer into the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad as an afterthought? The questions are a bit over the top, to be honest, but something is definitely cooking around Archer. The tearaway England quick who has been struggling with injuries for the last few years is currently in India with the Sussex squad and is making heads turn for multiple reasons.

Jofra Archer while playing for the the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023(Mumbai Indians Twitter)

Archer, who has not featured in a competitive game since May 2023, is back on the cricket field and that too as a Karnataka cricketer. Strange? Let us explain. Archer has travelled to Bengaluru with the English County side Sussex. This tour is a part of their pre-season preparatory camp before the County season starts.

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As per local media reports, Sussex had requested a few warm-up games with RCB before the IPL 2024 starts on March 22. But due to their packed training schedule, it was not possible.

Karnataka State Association, however, put together a team to help Sussex get some match practice. Archer was up against the Karnataka State Association XI team in a two-day warm-up match in Alur. But on Friday, the right-arm pacer decided to turn up for the KSCA XI and even got wickets.

In a few videos shared by Sussex on their X handle, Archer can be seen dismissing his own teammates. The first one was an lbw while in the next video, Archer was seen uprooting a Sussex batter's stumps.

Archer, who was bought by the Mumbai Indians in the mega auction before IPL 2022 could not play that season due to an injury. He returned last year but after playing just four matches, he was out of the tournament after a recurrence of an elbow stress fracture.

After regaining his fitness, Archer travelled with the England team as a reserve player during the ODI World in India last year but he complained of more elbow pain and was sent back home after less than a week in the camp.

MI released Archer before this year's auction after the ECB decided to manage his workload. Archer did not send his name for the auction as the ECB decided to keep the pacer fit for the T20 World Cup slated to be played in the West Indies and USA in June this year.

That Archer is England's scheme of things was evident when has was handed a two-year central contract despite having played just seven white-ball matches for England since March 2021.

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