Chetan Sakariya IPL 2021: Why is Jofra Archer not playing today’s IPL 2021 match vs Punjab Kings?

Jofra Archer not playing: Playing under a new captain, Rajasthan Royals have handed debuts to as many as four players tonight.

During the fourth match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings in Mumbai, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has won the toss and chose to field.

“We are going to bowl first. We have challenges to face while picking the XI. But I am happy with the players we have. Very excited about the [captaincy] role,” Samson told Star Sports at the toss.

Much like Samson, Punjab Kings captain Lokesh Rahul also wanted to field first as defending is generally considered as a wise option at the Wankhede Stadium.

“We all know the history of Wankhede. Everyone wants to bowl first. But we would want to play good cricket. We can’t really pinpoint anything particular. It is about the batting group helping the bowling group and vice-versa. We were really happy with the auctions,” Rahul told Star Sports at the toss.

Why is Jofra Archer not playing vs Punjab Kings?

Samson, who is leading in the IPL for the first time, further mentioned that they’ve included Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman as their four overseas players. In addition to Morris and Rahman, Royals have also handed debuts to opening batsman Manan Vohra and pacer Chetan Sakariya.

Vohra, who has represented Punjab (then Kings XI Punjab) and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past, has been handed a debut after spending a couple of seasons on the bench for RR.

Sakariya, on the other hand, was bought by Royals for INR 1.2 crore in the auction earlier this year. The left-arm pacer from Saurashtra is playing in the IPL for the first time. In 16 T20s till date, Sakariya has picked 28 wickets at an average of 15.10, an economy rate of 7.08 and a strike rate of 12.70.

As far as Royals spearhead Jofra Archer is concerned, he is all set to miss the first half of IPL 2021 due to an injury.

Let’s go https://t.co/HG55aye2F4

— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) April 12, 2021

Talking about Kings’ overseas players, they have included the West Indian duo of Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran and a couple of Australian debutants in Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

Read More