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.

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.