Jofra Archer to miss IPL to focus on recovery from injury

Archer has played 13 Tests, 17 one-day internationals and 12 Twenty20s for England England fast bowler Jofra Archer will miss the current Indian Premier League to focus on his recovery from injury. The 26-year-old was scheduled to play for Rajasthan Royals in the competition, which runs until 30 May. Archer, who has struggled with an elbow problem, returned to training last week after surgery on a hand injury sustained while cleaning a fish tank. Taking part in the IPL would have meant spending eight days in quarantine in India. Archer will instead resume training full-time with Sussex next week and could return to action for the second XI in May. England begin their international summer with a two-Test series against New Zealand starting on 2 June at Lord's. England v New Zealand - schedule Archer cut his hand in January, before England's tour of India, where he played in two of the four Tests and all five Twenty20s. He had an injection in March on the longstanding elbow problem. Archer is the third England and Royals player to be ruled out of the IPL after all-rounder Ben Stokes broke a finger and batsman Liam Livingstone left the squad with "bubble fatigue". The Royals are bottom of the IPL after four games. Archer has played in three consecutive tournaments for the franchise since his IPL debut in 2018. In 2020 he was given the Most Valuable Player award after taking 20 wickets and scoring 113 runs in 14 matches