WATCH: Jofra Archer clean bowls David Warner with peach of a delivery

The last major bilateral series before the very crucial thirteenth season of the Indian Premier League has just kicked-off and man, is it a biggie! England are hosting arch-rivals Australia for a three match long One Day International series after having clinched the t20 trophy against the same opponents. Apart from its international significance, this series will also have huge implications on the IPL, for recent form is almost always considered while picking an IPL team. This series, therefore becomes a sort of litmus test for all players taking part in the premier t20 tournament of the world, and it becomes ever so important for them to prove their mettle here.

Archer leaves Warner stunned

In their first match against Australia at Old Trafford, England won the coin toss and put the Aussies to bat first. Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer took England to a dream start, but it was the latter who stole the show. The express bowler from Barbados sent David Warner packing with an absolute blinder of a delivery, in the fourth over of the game. The actual ball itself, that started on Warner’s leg stump, curved away from the New South Wales southpaw and took away his off-stump. Warner was not the only person left stunned, for every one in attendance almost seemed to go ‘wow’ at the same time. The wicket was straight from any fast bowler’s dreams, and Warner, like most other batsmen facing that kind of a delivery, had no answer to it.

Archer set for IPL appearance

Jofra Archer will be seen donning the Rajasthan Royals’ pink jersey later this month, and it will be interesting to see what he does there. While the speedster has taken the world by storm on the international stage, he still hasn’t managed to convert his immense talent into a noticeable performance in the Indian Premier League, having taken 26 wickets in 21 games going at 7.6 runs per over. He is going to be the backbone of the Royals bowling attack once more, and he, along with Jaydev Unadkat, is most likely to both take the new ball and bowl in the death.

Australia are the fourth side to tour England post-lockdown after West Indies, Ireland and Pakistan. It’s amusing that the British have on the one hand played four different countries already, and international cricket is yet to start elsewhere on the other . They recently beat Australia 2-1 in the t20 series against them, maintaining their unbeaten run post the Corona Virus outbreak. While Ben Stokes was the star performer in the first half of their grand home season, Jos Buttler stole the show come white ball cricket and is looking in great form ahead of the all important Indian Premier League. It is going to be intriguing to see how all these household names perform after a near six-month long break come the Indian Premier League. Guess there’s only one way to find out, by tuning in on September 19^th!