Archer hopeful of participating in the rescheduled IPL

England fast bowler Jofra Archer, who made a successful return to competitive cricket in the County Championship match for Sussex against Kent, says that he is hopeful of making it to the rescheduled Indian Premier League (IPL) if it were to happen. Archer pulled out of the tournament due to an elbow injury and surgery in his right hand.

"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," said Archer on the Sussex Cricket YouTube channel.

"It was a hard decision not to go to India, it was really unpredictable, I could have gone but I don't know how many games I would have played."

After multiple bio-secure bubble breaches, which led to players testing positive for Covid-19, the IPL was indefinitely postponed last week.  Archer, who had picked up 20 wickets for his IPL team Rajasthan Royals last season, said, "Rajasthan Royals 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.

"(Ben) Stokes too suffered a bit, I think going over his hand and I don't even know if he is going to be ready for these Tests against New Zealand," he added, referring to the hand injury which ruled Stokes out of the IPL.

Playing his first competitive match in more than one and a half months, Archer on Thursday scalped the wickets of Zak Crawley and opposition skipper Bell Drummond, as Kent were bundled out for 145. "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," a pleased Archer said.

"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."

Archer, whose last appearance was the fifth T20I between India and England on March 20, was struggling with a freak hand injury and later underwent surgery to remove a glass fragment from a tendon on his right hand after an attempt to clean his fish tank went wrong.

He had sustained the injury at his home in January and the surgery was conducted while he was still undergoing treatment for a long-term elbow injury. The injury woes forced Archer to pull out of the now-suspended IPL 2021.

The ongoing match is Archer's last chance to prove his fitness ahead of England's Test series against New Zealand, which starts on June 2 at Lord's.

(With inputs from PTI)