A lot of eyebrows were raised when England National Cricket Team pacer Jofra Archer’s name didn’t feature in the shortlisted players for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction. The event will take place in Jeddah on November 24 and 25.
Jofra Archer, who has played for Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians in IPL, was the notable absentee, and many fans were surprised by his exclusion. This was because the fast bowler has gained full fitness following his prolonged injury and with the kind of impact he has made in world cricket.
Jofra Archer made himself unavailable as he wants to focus on his Test return
But the latest reports in Cricbuzz have revealed the reason behind Archer not being in the IPL auction 2025. It is learned that the fast bowler made himself unavailable as he wants to focus on his Test return, having returned from injury only in white-ball cricket.
The reports claimed that the England and the Wales Cricket Board (ECB) wants Archer to stay fit for the summer Tests next year. The Ben Stokes-led side will be having a hectic home Test season as they will be taking on India National Cricket Team in the five-match Test series.
Jofra Archer has missed a lot of action due the injuries
The series opener between the teams is scheduled to take place in Leeds from June 20, and the next four matches will be played in Birmingham (July 2-6), Lord’s (July 10-14), Manchester (July 23-27), and The Oval (July 31-August 4).
Jofra Archer has missed a lot of action due the injuries. But the pacer has now returned to full tilt and is making decent contributions for the team in the white-ball cricket. His comeback in red-ball cricket will be a massive boost for the England National Cricket Team going ahead, especially with key Test series around the corner.
Jofra Archer had a great start to his IPL career and was a vital cog in the wheel for the Rajasthan Royals
Jofra Archer had a great start to his IPL career and was a vital cog in the wheel for the Rajasthan Royals. But his injury woes saw him on the back foot. He played with the Team for a few years before joining the Mumbai Indians. He played a few games in IPL 2023. before getting released ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
Overall in the 40 games in the Indian Premier League, he had picked 48 wickets with the best of 3/15. For far, he has played 13 Tests, 27 ODIs, and 28 T20Is for England since making his international debut on May 3, 2019, during an ODI match against Ireland in Dublin.
A total of 574 players are set to go under the hammer in the mega auction of the Indian Premier League 2025. Out of these, 366 Indian players feature in the list while 208 overseas players will participate in the auction. The 10 teams have a total of 204 slots to fill, with 70 of them for overseas players.
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