The fiery English pacer, Jofra Archer is hopeful of playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) if the 14th edition of the cahs-rich league does resume this year after being suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) due to the rising cases of the coronavirus pandemic. Archer missed the first half of IPL 2021 for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) as he had suffered an injury on his right hand in a freak accident at his home in January this year.

Archer underwent surgery to remove a glass fragment from a tendon on his right hand, an injury he sustained in January when was cleaning his fish tank. He was undergoing treatment for a long-term elbow problem at the time.

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Jofra Archer took part in the Tests and T20Is in India but returned home for the operation in March, skipping the IPL 2021 which was eventually suspended until further notice on May 4 after Covid-19 breached the tournament’s bio-bubble, infecting four players, 2 support staff, and a bus cleaner among others.

Talking about his hope of coming back to IPL 2021, Jofra Archer said, “If I did go to India, I probably would have come home early anyway. Hopefully, if it (IPL) does get rescheduled for this year, I will be able to go again. It was a hard decision not to go to India, I could have gone but I don’t know how many games I would have played. RR and England supported me in my decision. You obviously built a good relationship as I have been with the Royals for the last three years.”

The right-arm fast bowler, who was named in Sussex’s squad on Friday, said he is feeling confident ahead of his return to the sport.

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Describing the same, Jofra Archer said, “My fitness is fine. I thought I bowled okay. I played in the (Sussex) second team last week and it’s good to get some confidence and I felt fine. “I bowled in short spells for protection in case we had a long day but it was overcast, which helped a bit. There was a bit of management, but it all worked out.”