Jofra Archer undergoes hand surgery after fish tank mishap
England pace spearhead Jofra Archer, on Monday, underwent surgery on his hand in the aftermath of a bizarre incident. Explaining the incident, England's director of cricket Ashley Giles said Archer dropped a tropical fish tank in his bath and suffered a cut on his middle finger of the right hand. Due to this, Archer's participation in the IPL remains in doubt. Here is more.
Archer's finger had healed sufficiently to play
As per reports, the incident occurred at Archer's flat in Hove in January. Although the finger had healed sufficiently for him to take part in both the Test and T20I series of the tour, the England management decided to investigate the wound properly. Notably, Archer returned home ahead of last week's ODI series to undergo treatment on a long-standing elbow injury.
Giles describes the incident
Giles narrated the entire incident at BBC's Tuffers and Vaughan show, and confirmed that Archer underwent a successful operation. "This is going to sound like an awful conspiracy and I can see what's going happen on Twitter as soon as I say this," Giles said. "He was cleaning at home. He's got a fish tank. He dropped the fish tank, cut his hand."
A fragment of glass was removed from his hand
Giles added that a small fragment of glass was removed from Archer's hand. "They operated and found a small fragment of glass. It healed but there was part of the fish tank still in his finger. So, it was the right thing to do. We've got a clear window to do it as well. We wish him the best for his recovery," added Giles.
Archer missed several games on the Indian tour
It is understood that the injury forced Archer to miss the second and fourth Tests against India of the four-match series. Although he played in all the five T20Is later on, he required a cortisone injection to make it through the series. After that, he missed the three-match ODI series, and underwent another round of treatment on his return to London.
A decision on his IPL participation to be taken soon
As far as Archer's IPL participation is concerned, a concrete decision will be taken this week. Archer, who has been one of the most lethal bowlers in the IPL, was bought by Rajasthan Royals in 2018 (Rs. 7.2 crore). He took 15 wickets in his debut season before scalping another 11, a year later. In 2020, Archer finished as the MVP, taking 20 wickets.
