England got a major boost with their star pacer Jofra Archer set to make a comeback in the upcoming high-profile five-match Test series against India. On the contrary, his return will be a big threat for India, who will be travelling without the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Archer’s news was confirmed by Three Lions national selector Luke Wright. To make his comeback for the India Tests, however, Archer will have to prove his fitness by playing in a County match for Sussex against Durham in a fortnight’s time.
Wright said, “Jof’s also trucking along really well actually. The plan is for him to play a few second-team games, loading up in the second team for Sussex. And then the idea for him is to play for Sussex against Durham during the first Test [June 22-25]. Then if all things go well, fingers crossed, he should be available for the second Test.”
The series which will be a part of the new World Test Championship (WTC 2027) cycle, is slated to start from June 20 at Headingley.
Notably, Archer had picked up a ligament damage in his thumb while playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and was subsequently ruled out for the recent ODI series against West Indies.
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The 30-year-old had last donned the whites four years back in 2021 on an away tour against India. Archer has been out of red-ball cricket for a considerable amount of time due to a succession of injury issues, including multiple surgeries on his troublesome right elbow and a stress fracture of his back.
He was expected to make a return for the England Lions in the second unofficial Test against India A from June 6 but is unfortunately forced to the sidelines.
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