These have been the worst conditions I have bowled in, says Jofra Archer

The 26-year-old right-arm pacer from Barbados who was bought for a whopping 7.2 Cr in the IPL 2018 by the Rajasthan Royals bowled remarkably well in the match against the Chennai Super Kings on Sunday wherein he bagged two wickets. His figures of 2/17 included a maiden over and the count of dismissals would’ve been three if an unfortunate event wouldn’t have taken place.

The uncanny incident happened when RR all-rounder Jofra Archer was delivering his over and CSK captain MS Dhoni was on strike. The incident occurred in the sixth over of the match between CSK and RR when Archer slammed a short one to Dhoni. The former Indian captain defended the ball but it caught the edge of his bat and ricocheted to hit the stumps. However, to everyone’s wonderment, the bails didn’t fall off and that gave Dhoni a lifeline. 

Quite naturally, Archer couldn’t believe what he was deposing while his teammate Steve Smith also joined in all stunned. Dhoni, who was then batting at zero, went on to hit a splendid half-century to take CSK to a competitive total of 175 which seemed improbable in between. The fifty was Dhoni’s 21st in IPL half-century.

Jofra Archer, who has previously represented the West Indies U-19 Cricket team in the past, has an English father and British passport and is now eligible to play for England as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) changed its rules. England skipper Eoin Morgan revealed that all eyes will be on Archer’s performance in the IPL.

Just ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup, Archer might get a potential call up to the English team for the series against Pakistan. Archer made his IPL debut in April 2018 against Mumbai Indians where he claimed three wickets and won the Man of the match award.

Archer compares the conditions in Chennai with that of Bangladesh

Just after the Barbadian completed his 4-over spell, he spoke about the conditions that were really challenging in Chennai. He said, “Honestly, these have been the worst conditions I have bowled in. It is very very hard and challenging with the amount of dew. The ball has been wet for 8-9 overs the seam is slimy and then the new hard ball went the distance. We played here yesterday and there was a lot more dew, but there is still a lot of dew getting onto the ball.”

“It is very hard to bowl a yorker and to bowl full. I have experienced such conditions once in Bangladesh, but no, I haven’t trained for conditions like these,” Archer was quoted saying at the end of the Chennai innings, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. 

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