England pacer Jofra Archer has said that though it was a hard decision not to go to India for the IPL 2021, which was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the franchises, he is hopeful of playing in it if it gets rescheduled to a later date.

Archer, who plays for Rajasthan Royals (RR), had missed the first half of IPL 2021 because of an elbow injury, recently returned to action in county cricket for Sussex.

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After the first day's play, Jofra Archer spoke to the media where he was asked about IPL 2021. He labeled the current COVID-19 situation in India as 'terrible', and said that even if he had gone to India for the T20 tournament, he would have returned home early.

"It's terrible in India at the moment and to be honest if I did go to India, I probably would have been home early, anyway, but I think that's just how it's gone. I feel hopeful when if it does reschedule for this year, hopefully, I'll be able to go again but it was a hard decision to not go to India,” Archer said.

Speaking on his fitness, Archer mentioned he was unsure how many games he would have managed to play for the Rajasthan Royals even if he had stayed in India for IPL 2021.

"It was just really unpredictable. I don't know if I could have gone but I don't know how many games I would have played," Archer added.

Archer is expected to make his England return as they prepare to host New Zealand for two Tests and then play India in a series of five Test matches.

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