‘Why wasn’t his hand taped up for the Tests and T20s’ - Michael Vaughan raises questions over Jofra Archer's hand injury

England’s right-arm seamer Jofra Archer is all set to undergo surgery on Monday, March 29, for an injury that he had sustained on his right-arm before traveling to India for a long tour comprising a four-match Test series, five T20Is, and a three-match ODI series.

On Saturday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) revealed that in January Archer has suffered a cut on his right-arm while cleaning his home. For the same reason, the seamer will be undergoing the surgery. This means that the 25-year-old played with an injured right hand in the first and third match of the four-match Test series followed by five T20Is against India.

The sudden announcement regarding Jofra’s injury on the right hand hasn’t gone down well with England’s former captain Michael Vaughan, who is known for speaking his mind. Vaughan questioned why the speed merchant didn’t sport a tape on his hand during the India tour if he had suffered a cut in January. 

Vaughan took to Twitter and wrote, “Cut his hand ??? Why wasn’t his hand taped up for the Tests & T20s he played then if it happened in Jan ??????”

Cut his hand ??? Why wasn’t his hand taped up for the Tests & T20s he played then if it happened in Jan ?????? https://t.co/g8VqgjpezV

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 27, 2021

Jofra Archer to miss IPL 2021

One noteworthy point here is that Archer is all scheduled to take the third injection in the month of April for an injury on his right elbow. Archer has been suffering from an elbow injury for quite some time now but the problem aggravated during the T20Is.

The 25-year-old has returned back to England and doesn’t form a part of the English squad for the ongoing ODI series against India at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. In addition, owing to the two main injuries, there are high chances of the speedster missing the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), scheduled by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from April 9 to May 30 across six venues.

Archer has represented the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the T20 Championship since 2018 and his absence can cause some major trouble for the wooden-spooners of IPL 2020. In the recent past, Jofra has emerged as one of the most important pillars of the team’s bowling attack, especially in the death overs.