IPL 2025: England Cricket Chief Comments on Jofra Archer’s Participation

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Managing Director Rob Key believes that Jofra Archer’s decision to play in the next Indian Premier League (IPL) season will affect his Test cricket comeback. Archer’s participation in the IPL could push his scheduled return to Test cricket back by two months.

Players were required to register for the IPL 2025 mega auction to be eligible for the subsequent mini-auction. Consequently, the ECB granted Archer the freedom to decide his future, and the fast bowler chose to participate in the mega auction.

Key understands Archer’s decision, especially given the new rules implemented for the IPL’s upcoming seasons.

Rob Key on Jofra Archer’s Test Comeback:

During an interview on Wisden Cricket Weekly’s Patreon channel, Rob Key discussed Archer’s potential return to Test cricket and how his IPL stint could delay his red-ball cricket preparations.

Key had specific plans for Archer, which included advising him to play County Championship matches to get ready for Test cricket. Initially, the ECB wanted Archer to skip the IPL entirely.

“Jofra is always incredible. We were saying, ‘Maybe skipping IPL this year would be the best thing—get yourself ready, and then we can gradually build your workload… If you can play some Championship cricket, you can start the Test summer.’ He was happy with that,” Key said in the interview.

However, the new IPL rules prompted Archer to make himself available for the next season. Key admitted it would have been challenging to keep Archer out of the IPL, especially as he had already begun bowling at full intensity.

“We had to see what India was going to do with the IPL rules. We thought we could argue he was still in a controlled workload phase,” Key explained. “The problem was, he was bowling at 90mph with two slips and a gully in West Indies T20 matches, so it was hard to claim he was injured when he was bowling like that.”

Archer’s Decision to Play in IPL 2025:

While discussing the new rules, Key stated that he did not want England’s key pacers to miss out on the IPL and suffer significant financial losses. As a result, Archer was given the right to decide, and he ultimately chose to participate in the mega auction.

“They [BCCI] came back after some discussions and said, ‘No, he can’t go this year, but from next year he can.’ So you’re looking at nearly $4 million at stake, and then you think… it really was up to him,” Key said.

IPL 2025’s Impact on Archer’s Test Comeback:

While Archer is set to play in IPL 2025, Key believes this will push his Test cricket comeback back by two months as he won’t have enough time to prepare for red-ball cricket. However, Archer decided that playing in the IPL was the best course for him.

Archer was signed by Rajasthan Royals for ₹12.5 crores after a bidding war with Mumbai Indians. Having previously played for both Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, Archer returns to his former franchise, where he hopes to make a significant impact.

“There’s still a lot to unfold, but we think he’ll be fine. We’re just a few months behind… So Jofra decided the best thing for him was to go to the IPL [auction], and we had no issue with that. Then, during the IPL, we’ll work on building his workload to get him ready for the Test series,” Key concluded.

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