Rajasthan Royals and England pacer Jofra Archer will miss the whole of the ongoing Indian Premier League, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Friday.
The right-arm fast bowler underwent a surgery on his middle finger. A statement released by the ECB said that the intimidating pacer will be in full training with Sussex.
"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 release said.
Archer had suffered a cut to his hand while he was cleaning his room before leaving for India in January. The injury was then managed by the ECB medical staff during the tour.
If Jofra had to take part in the IPL then he had to go under a mandatory eight-day quarantine which would have interrupted his preparations. The decision of him missing this edition of the IPL has been taken by both RR and Archer mutually.
Jofra was one of the most successful bowlers in the IPL last season after he picked up a total of 20 wickets in 14 matches at a healthy economy of 6.55.
RR are already missing the services of Ben Stokes and Liam Livingstone. Stokes returned back to UK after sustaining finger injury while Livingstone flew back home due to bio-bubble fatigue.
The franchise though is likely to sign South Africa batsman Rassie van der Dussen who has been among runs for quite some time now. But he has to pass a fitness test to confirm his availability.
The Sanju Samson-led side is already in a spot of bother after losing three of the four matches that they have played so far and are at the bottom of the points table.
The Royals suffered a defeat against RCB on Thursday after Virat Kohli’s side thumped them by 10 wickets while chasing 178 in 20 overs in Mumbai.
Opener Devdutt Padikkal notched up his maiden IPL ton while captain Kohli scored a fifty during the course of the run-chase. RR are now slated to play Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday in Mumbai.