• Source:JND
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England are pinning hopes for pacer Jofra Archer's availability for this year's T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the USA after missing the most of 2023 season due to injuries. He last played in any competitive cricket in May 2023 where he played five matches for Mumbai Indians in the IPL before pulling out of the tournament with a recurrence of his right-arm elbow injury.

The speedster made his return to the England squad after months-long gap for the limited-overs series against Bangladesh and featured in three T20Is and four ODIs before heading to India to play in the IPL 2023.

With title defence in mind, England are hoping to have a fully-fit Archer for the T20 pinnacle event in the middle of the year. The 28-year-old is still undergoing rehabilitation for the elbow injury that troubled him for the major part of his career.

"Our plan is the T20 World Cup, building him up slowly," England's director of cricket Rob Key was quoted as saying on the BBC's 'Tailenders Podcast'.

"I saw him bowl in the Caribbean and it was like he'd never been away. I don't want to get back to this thing where he plays and then goes down again," he added.

Ahead of the IPL auction, Mumbai Indians released Archer from their squad but the pacer did not enroll himself for the upcoming edition of the IPL. During his brief stint with Mumbai last year, the pacer went to Belgium for a minor surgery.

On Archer pulling out of IPL 2024, England's director of cricket said, "He (Archer) wanted to play in the IPL, but we said not this time. Hopefully, the years he has missed he can add to the end of his career. He is such a talent."

Defending champions England will start their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Scotland at Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 4.