Jofra Archer needs to “get his elbow properly sorted” in order to protect his long-term career, says Ben Stokes.
Archer is missing England’s one-day series against India after the England and Wales Cricket Board said his elbow “deteriorated” during the five-match Twenty20 series.
Stokes said his Rajasthan Royals team-mate could miss also the entirety of this year’s Indian Premier League.
“We’re not sure how much of it he’ll be able to play a part, if any,” he said.
Fast bowler Archer, 25, had already been ruled out of the start of the IPL, which runs from 9 April to 30 May.
“One thing that we need to be very mindful of is that Jofra does need to give this elbow a chance to recover,” Stokes said.
“It’s great that he’s came out and said he’s putting his England commitments before everything else.
“It’s tough having an injury then getting through a game and then going backwards again. I think long term for his career, this is a very sensible option for him to be taking.”
‘I’m happy where everything is in our white-ball team’
England play India in the second of a three-match ODI series in Pune on Friday, having lost the first match by 66 runs.
All-rounder Stokes, playing in his first ODI since England’s win in the 2019 World Cup final, took 3-34 and – with Joe Root rested for the series – was dismissed for one batting at number three.
“I did actually message Rooty just asking on his mindset at number three and he was pretty clear to me to say play the way that you play,” he said.
“Just because he plays a certain way doesn’t mean I need to play like that.”
England received some criticism for batting Stokes at number six in the 3-2 T20 series loss, with former batsman Kevin Pietersen saying the all-rounder was being “wasted” lower down the order.
Stokes – who has opened the batting for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL – scored 84 from his three T20 innings against India and said he is happy with his role in England’s T20 team.
“We’ve been formidable in the white-ball format over a number of years. Why would we change that?” he said.
“It’s a talking point and it always seems to pop up but everyone deserves to be where they are in that batting line up.
“Just because we lost the T20 series doesn’t mean we need to start changing things around. When we win nobody says too much but when we lose everyone starts to pipe up again.
“I’m happy where everything is in our white-ball team because that’s our best formula to win.”
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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