Jofra Archer shows the way in this year's IPL
Rajasthan Royals failed in their bid to make the play-off of this year s Indian Premier League
(IPL) but their pace spearhead Jofra Archer will leave with his held head high after his superlative performance in the tournament.
Sunday s 60-run thumping by
Kolkata Knight Riders ended the 2008 winners hope of a second IPL title but England quick Archer enjoyed a stellar season and still leads the race for the tournament s Most Valuable Player.
Archer is among the six bowlers who have claimed 20 or more wickets in this IPL and his economy rate of 6.55 is the best among them.
Rajasthan captain Steve Smith felt the team s inconsistent top order had failed to complement the effort of Archer and all-rounder Rahul Tewatia.
Jofra has been exceptional pretty much every game. Tewatia obviously has pulled a few out of the hat throughout the tournament ... not enough support for them,” the Australian said.
Barbados-born Archer also appeared to enjoy his lower order cameos and smashed 10 sixes in the tournament.
Jofra was outstanding with his economy rates,” Rajasthan coach Andrew McDonald said. He s been incredible on the field and stamped his authority on the game early in the tournament when he got his chance with the bat.
His all-round game keeps getting better. We had too few contributions around him.
Archer said last week he was counting down the days to be free from the world of biosecure bubbles that he has been trapped in for the past few months in order to play cricket amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
We come back stronger,” the 25-year-old tweeted after they crashed out of the race. Meanwhile, Pat Cummins return to form in the IPL is good news not just for his Kolkata Knight Riders but also for Australia coach Justin Langer ahead of the blockbuster home series against India. Cummins, the IPL s most expensive player this season at $2.1m (R34m), had gone wicketless in six of seven games before claiming 3/17 against Delhi Capitals on October 24.
The 27-year-old right-arm quick backed that up on Sunday by taking 4/34 in Kolkata s 60run win over Rajasthan Royals,
Jofra was outstanding with his economy rates. He s
’ been incredible
confirming his return to form as the tournament s play-off race begins to intensify.
Earlier I put a lot of pressure on myself after that first game when I didn t bowl well,” manof-the-match Cummins said.
The longer the tournament has gone I have bowled better and better.
The great thing about IPL is there are so many other games on and so many great bowlers on display, so there is a lot to learn from.”
Cummins conceded 19 runs in his first five balls in Dubai before dismissing opener Robin Uthappa with the final delivery of the over.
In his next over, Cummins claimed the wickets of dangerous all-rounder Ben Stokes and former Australia captain Smith to derail Rajasthans chase.
India travel to Australia later this month for six short-form internationals followed by a four-Test series.