IPL 2021: Kumar Sangakkara says Jofra Archer’s absence a huge blow, but has full faith in RR's Indian pacers

RR will clash will Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the first match for both teams on Monday.

Rajasthan Royals’ director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara said that the absence of England pacer Jofra Archer was a huge blow for the RR team, but was confident that the team’s young Indian fast bowlers will rise to the challenge in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL 2021).

Archer, who played with a hand injury during the India series, is currently recuperating from surgery and his return time to cricket is still not clear.

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“Sanju and I will both agree that it’s a big blow for us. Jofra is a very vital part of our make-up and not having him is unfortunately the reality of it. We have to work around it and plan contingencies,” Sangakkara told PTI.

RR will clash will Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the first match for both teams on Monday.

“Inexperience can probably work for you and it could mean that opposition hasn’t seen you either. Fast bowling in IPL is not an easy task and we saw that yesterday (Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings) as well.

Most of the wickets are good for batting. So, you have to be quite skillful. We have Kartik Tyagi, who did pretty well last season in patches, and this year we have new additions (pacer) Kuldeep Yadav (Jr) and Chetan Sakariya,” said Sangakkara.

For Sangakkara, it is vital that these youngsters are prepared to understand match situations and bowl accordingly.

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“It’s about keeping them focused on what their job is and get them trained and prepared to execute different deliveries, scenarios, and match plans for the opposition but at the same time, giving them confidence about their own strengths,” Sangakkara said.

The eloquent former Sri Lanka captain wants each of his 11 players to be “problem solvers”, who can think on their feet and help the skipper.

“That really helps the skipper Sanju a lot on the field when people are thinking themselves as to what’s going on (match situation), and it also builds a lot of trust within the unit,” he added.

(PTI inputs)