PUNE: England coach Chris Silverwood on Sunday said that his side needs to get to the bottom of the problem which has been hampering pacer Jofra Archer.
Silverwood’s remark came as Archer was deemed unfit for the upcoming three-match ODI series against India. The pacer has also been ruled out from the initial phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.
“Obviously, it is disappointing for Jofra and for us, it is clearly something we need to get to the bottom of. We will make sure that we have every possible resource surrounding him and hopefully getting him on the field fit and fine for the future of England. I think first and foremost we need to get to the bottom of the problem. Obviously, he is going to miss the early stages of the IPL and it will be led by the medics. First and foremost, we have to make sure that he is okay,” Silverwood told UK Media in a virtual press conference on Sunday.
“Well, it is what it is. It is technically not the same problem, is it?. The important thing is here that we get it cleared up and we get him to see the specialist. We need to make sure that we make it clear for Jofra to have a long successful career for England. In this moment of time, I am pretty chilled out but the most important thing for me right now is that Jofra sees the right people to get fully fit,” he added.
Further talking about Archer, Silverwood said: “I want Jofra there at the T20 World Cup and the Ashes. He is a great performer and I want him there. I have full confidence in my medics team that they will provide him the best treatment to give him the best possible chance. You get niggles, injuries are part and parcel, you can pick up an injury at any given point of time.”
Archer is returning to the UK for further management and investigation of his right elbow injury. Archer’s elbow issue has deteriorated over the course of the five-match T20I series and made it increasingly challenging for him to maintain performance levels. The ECB medical team will now assess the player and, together with Jofra, develop a treatment plan and a return-to-play schedule in due course. As a consequence, Jofra will miss the start of this year’s IPL.
On Saturday, blistering half-centuries by skipper Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and spirited bowling performance by Indian bowlers helped the hosts to register a 36-run win in the fifth T20I here at the Narendra Modi Stadium. With this win, India clinched the five-match series 3-2 and now both the teams will face off in the three-match ODI series, beginning Tuesday in Pune.
“I see the T20 series as a great experience for our players to be out here. Obviously, disappointed to lose but it is a difficult place to come and win. India played very well. But we will certainly be wiser for it, coming back here for the World Cup, the players would have experience of the wickets and conditions. Again, the experience of how to bat and ball on these wickets, disappointed to lose this series but excited regarding what is in front of us,” said Silverwood.
“We were expecting the wickets to potentially turn but the wickets were firm and good wickets. Hence, we made very few changes in our team, the team we put out was very strong, we controlled the powerplay. There are areas we can improve on but the way things panned out, we used fewer players,” he added.