Wednesday’s IPL clash between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals boiled down to a battle of pacers as Anrich Nortje cranked up the speed in Dubai.
Nortje clocked three of the fastest recorded deliveries in IPL history in the space of one over, with his individual battle with Jos Buttler going down as the highlight of the match.
Ultimately, Nortje won that duel while the Delhi Capitals went on to sweep the points. Meanwhile, Nortje’s compatriot Kagiso Rabada extended his tally to 18 as the leading wicket-taker of the ongoing campaign.
The South African fast bowlers might have taken home the share of spoils on the night, but one does need to spare a thought for Jofra Archer. Before Nortje had put on his fast-bowling clinic, Archer had performed a similar trick for the Royals.
The England pacer breathed fire from the word go and rattled the stumps of Prithvi Shaw with the very first delivery of the match with a beautiful in-swinger. Archer brought the heat for Rajasthan and not for the first time in the tournament.
Bowling consistently over the 150-kph mark, the pacer bagged two more wickets in a fiery display that saw him concede just 19 runs off his four overs. An upper-cut for six by Alex Carey in the death overs was the sole boundary conceded by Archer on the day.
In the process, the Englishman also brought up a century of dot balls in the current IPL edition. 101 of the 192 deliveries that Archer has bowled in the tournament have not gone for a single run, and that is nothing short of staggering in the T20 format.
Archer’s 12 wickets in the campaign so far might pale in comparison to Rabada’s 18, but he has arguably been the bowler of the tournament. This is a tournament that he would in all probability have missed after he suffered a stress fracture to his elbow in February this year.
Fate though, had other plans for Archer with the COVID-19 pandemic pushing the IPL back to September. The long break from cricket seems to have reinvigorated the Barbados-born star and he has come back even stronger from the injury layoff.
In the IPL this year, Archer has been absolutely fast and furious. 15 of his deliveries so far have been above 150 kph, with only Nortje (16) bettering him in the charts. The shackles have absolutely come off the 25-year-old in the competition and he is reveling in the freedom of bowling without the pressures of international duty.
He even exhibited his lighter side on Wednesday after bamboozling Shaw as he broke into a traditional Indian dance from the state of Assam. Archer is clearly enjoying his cricket again despite having to almost single-handedly carry Rajasthan’s bowling attack in the tournament.
That was clearly not the case on some of his England assignments, last year, especially on the tour of New Zealand. There were times where he looked bruised, battered and defeated after being made to bowl long and fruitless spells with the red-ball.
There was no doubt that England had bowled him to the ground and question marks were even raised on Joe Root’s handling of his premier fast bowler.
It is important to remember the extensive workload placed on Archer’s shoulders ever since he became eligible to represent England last year. Having just returned from IPL duty in India, he put on world-class displays in England’s World Cup-winning campaign and the subsequent Test introduction in the Ashes series.
When these exertions were followed up by the long spells Archer bowled in New Zealand and South Africa, it was only inevitable that he would break down at one point.
Fortunately for England, the injury looks long behind Archer based on the evidence of his IPL performances. There were signs of rust in early stages of the campaign, particularly when he was taken for 46 runs in the clash against Kings XI Punjab.
That outing did come on a featherbed of a batting track in Sharjah and remains the only blot in Archer’s IPL 2020 report card.
Since then, the England ace has kicked it up a gear or two, and has been scarily getting better with each passing game.
The best of batsmen have been made to dance to his tunes, with David Warner among the players to lose their stumps to Archer’s pace and accuracy.
What we are witnessing is peak Archer and one that was previously seen in England’s memorable 2019 summer. Pace and accuracy have been his chief weapons in the UAE and few batsmen have looked comfortable against him with a new ball in hand.
His superb economy-rate of just 6.56 is the best by far for any fast bowler in the competition this year.
T20 is, after all, the format which propelled Archer into worldwide fame, long before he had made his England debut. At his core, he has always been a white-ball specialist who was fast-tracked to Test cricket by a desperate England side.
His natural ability to generate these insane speeds with the gentlest of run-ups is testament to his genius, and it is no surprise that England’s management have been quick to get him into the Test set-up.
There is clearly a Test bowler in there somewhere, and Archer has given enough glimpse of that potential in his brief red-ball career so far. If Jasprit Bumrah can become India’s leading Test bowler after starting out as a T20 specialist, then there is no doubt that Archer can do the same.
It might take some time for the fast bowler to properly come to grips with the five-day format, and it will also require some better management from England. It does look like lessons are starting to be learned by England, and it was seen in how they handled Archer in the summer against West Indies and Pakistan.
Short bursts, rather than long spells, was Archer’s remit in those red-ball clashes in a sensible correction by Root and the team management.
There will certainly be bigger glories to come for Archer in the England whites in the coming years. For now though, we are lucky to see him going full throttle for four overs in the Rajasthan pinks.
