Joe Root Blames IPL, BBL For Jofra Archer's Elbow Injury

In the wake of Jofra Archer suffering an elbow injury, England Test captain Joe Root has put the blame on Indian Premier League (IPL) and Big Bash League (BBL). Root also insisted that Archer has not been over-bowled by England in international cricket although he has not played franchise cricket or county cricket since making his debut last year in May.

The Barbados-born star first felt discomfort in his elbow during the World Cup and it re-surfaced in the Test series in New Zealand, where he was asked to send down a marathon 42 overs in one innings. He last played for England during the first Test against South Africa before his injury sidelined him.

Jofra Archer has now been ruled out of the tour of Sri Lanka as well as the IPL after he was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the right elbow. Since his debut for England, he has bowled more than 400 overs in international cricket. No other England player has bowled more than him in the entire calendar year.

But despite all these factors, Joe Root insisted that England did not put too much pressure on Jofra Archer and indirectly put the blame on IPL and BBL for the injury.

“I wouldn’t say he’s been over bowled. You look at the amount of cricket he’s played before he played for England, he’s played a huge amount,” said Joe Root.

“An important part of it now is the amount of cricket there is, it’s pretty full-on if you’re playing all three formats. Chuck an IPL in there as well and the Big Bash and stuff he’s played beforehand, that’s a lot of cricket.

“One of the pleasing things is we are really clear on what the injury is now and it ended up being the right call for him not playing in that last Test match [against South Africa] because it could have done further damage and been a really tough one for him. We’re all gutted for him missing out,”Root added.

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