Jofra Archer is currently nursing an elbow injury and will continue his rehab in India during the ICC World Cup 2023.
New Delhi: England will bring pacer Jofra Archer along with their 15-member ICC World Cup squad to India as a travelling reserve, chief selector Luke Wright confirmed on Monday. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced their squad for the mega showpiece on Sunday. Archer is currently nursing an elbow injury and will continue working on his fitness in India.
“Jofra Archer will be travelling with the squad to India. He is one of the reserves but we also need to look after him, focus on his rehab,” Wright said, as quoted by Sky Sports. Archer, who was part of England’s 2019 World Cup title-winning side, sustained an elbow injury in 2021.
After almost being sidelined for two years, Archer made a return to international cricket earlier this year before taking up the same injury during IPL 2023. In the IPL 2023, Archer played just five matches for Mumbai Indians and took only two wickets.
Mumbai Indians had bought Archer during the IPL 2022 players’ auction despite knowing about his injury. Meanwhile, on Sunday, England named Harry Brook in their ICC World Cup 2023 squad while the likes of Jason Roy missed out. Earlier, Ben Stokes was brought out of ODI retirement to be included in the 15-member squad.
“We have selected a squad we are confident can go to India and win the World Cup,” Wright said. “We are blessed with an incredibly strong group of white-ball players which was underlined by the performances in the series win against a very good New Zealand team.
“The strength of the group has meant that we have had to make some tough decisions on world-class players with Jason Roy missing out and Harry Brook coming into the squad.”
England World Cup Squad: Jos Buttler (c), Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Reece Topley, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson.