T20 World Cup 2021: I Hope Opposition Teams Are Scared When They Come Up Against England - Jofra Archer
Published - 14 Oct 2021, 08:05 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:58 AM
Jofra Archer feels that England have “enough strength in depth” to fill in for his and Ben Stokes‘s absence at the upcoming T20 World Cup.
The fast bowler will miss the mega-event due to the recurrence of a fracture in his elbow, while Stokes is on a break to focus on his mental wellbeing and also is recovering from a finger injury.
Despite the absence of their two stalwarts, England, the top-ranked ICC T20I team, look a solid outfit and a strong contender to lift the trophy. Jofra Archer, one of England’s heroes of the 2019 World Cup, reckons other teams would be fearing the sight of the Three Lions in the T20 World Cup.
“Let’s face it, we have been successful for so long, top of the world rankings as a result, and have players that can dominate on any stage,” Jofra Archer wrote in his Daily Mail column on Wednesday.
“Yes, myself and Ben Stokes are unavailable, but I’m not worried about that in terms of the way the team will perform. I know there is enough strength in depth to cover our absence.
“I hope opposition teams are scared when they come up against us over these next few weeks. I hope people are losing sleep at night, thinking, ‘jeez, we have got a tough game tomorrow'”.
Test cricket is the most important format to me: Jofra Archer
Jofra Archer last played an international game in March earlier this year, a T20I match versus India in Ahmedabad. He was then ruled out of the IPL 2021, then the home Test series against India, and then the T20 World Cup and the Ashes in Australia.
The speedster wishes to play more of Test cricket – he has so far featured in 13 red-ball games for England, picking up 42 wickets. He eyes next year’s Test series in West Indies as his return to the Test setup.
“I’ve said many times before that Test cricket is the most important format to me and nothing has changed in that respect. It’s frustrating to be sitting out an important series against India, as well as not being to make the trip to Australia this winter – not to mention the Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE,” Jofra Archer said earlier.
“I don’t want this thing hanging over me. I want to be out there again, taking wickets and helping win games for England,” he said. “Having said that, I’m trying to be cautious about when I make my comeback, but I guess there’s a chance I’ll be ready in time for England’s three-Test series against West Indies in the Caribbean in March,” he added.
England, meanwhile, will take on West Indies in Dubai on October 23 to begin their T20 World Cup campaign. They will also meet Australia and South Africa in the Super 12 stage.
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