England quick Jofra Archer has entered the upcoming IPL auction, despite the 26-year-old being unlikely to feature at all in this year's edition of the tournament.
Archer has been struggling with a long-term elbow injury and has undergone two surgeries in a bid to correct the problem.
He has not played for England since March last year and has been ruled out of action until at least the summer, although he did step up his recovery by joining England's T20I side for training during the recent series against the West Indies.
Having attempted a brief comeback last summer with Sussex, which lasted just four games, England are rightly being cautious about rushing Archer back too soon.
As a result, he is not expected to play in this year's IPL at all, despite entering the auction.
On Tuesday, the IPL finalised the list of players who will be involved in the auction, with the number available getting cut down from 1,214 to 590 based on interest from the ten franchises.
Archer has made that list as one of 24 England players, but ESPNcricinfo are reporting that IPL COO Hemang Amin has sent the franchises an email making it clear that the fast bowler is unlikely to be available for the 2022 season.
"The ECB has registered Jofra Archer for the auction with a view to potential participation in 2023 and 2024, as due to his current injury it is unlikely that he can participate in IPL 2022," Amin said.
"Therefore, his name has been included in the auction list, but he won't feature in the marquee or other sets to be presented.
"He will be available to be called during the accelerated auction and whoever picks him will not get a replacement player for IPL 2022 season for his place as he is already injured and unlikely to participate in IPL 2022 season."
Archer has been a regular at the IPL since 2018 when he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for £800,000 and he boasts an impressive record for the franchise, having picked up 46 wickets at an average of 21.33.
In the 2020 season, Archer was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after taking 20 wickets at 18.35 and blasting 113 runs at a strike rate of almost 180.
However, Rajasthan opted against retaining him this year due to his ongoing injury problems, with Archer's England team-mate Jos Buttler retained along with India players Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
