Rajasthan Royals Director of Cricket and Head Coach, Kumar Sangakkara, praised Jofra Archer for his Man-of-the-Match performance in the clutch match. Royals need a must-win against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, and Archer hammered 15-ball 32 and then came up with destructive figures of 3 for 17 to star in a 30-run win on Sunday here.
Sangakkara praised Archer’s batting capabilities. “He is a very capable batter, and we have discussed sending him higher up the order at times. Today, he showed how good he can be with the bat,” said the Sri Lankan legend.
Archer came at No 7 and gave his side momentum after an indifferent start from the top order. In fact, none of the Royals batters reached 40’s still they managed a score of over 200 with crucial cameos from the middle-order and lower-order batters.
“It was quite scrappy; the wicket was quite slow initially, but I would have liked to see the top four score more. But it was good to see everyone put their hands up. I thought Jofra played really well, and Dasun Shanaka also gave us momentum. Cameos from Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira and even Riyan Parag and Nandre Burger augured well,” he said.
The former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batter also hailed Archer’s match-winning bowling spell. “He has pace and skills also. He went for a few in some games, but he responds very well. Today he set us up with those two wickets at the top.”
Archer has invited some criticism back home in England for skipping the first Test against New Zealand starting June 4 and staying back in the IPL. “It was a collaborative decision by ECB, franchise management and Jofra Archer. He has been bowling just four overs in the IPL in every game, and everyone understands he needs to increase his load before Test cricket.
Sangakkara also said their “bowlers have to bowl with intent and be clear about line and length” in their Eliminator clash against the top-order-heavy Sunrisers Hyderabad.
He also defended skipper Riyan Parag and his struggles with batting. "He is a smart leader, and you could see how he manages in the field. Everybody respects him in the dressing room. He will mature more and grow as a leader and batter," he said.
