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"Wickets are so easy and the boundaries are so small": Jofra Archer on bowling at IPL

Wednesday, 08-Jul-2026, 10:44 AM
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England fast bowler Jofra Archer is relishing bowling in English conditions after having played on batting-friendly surfaces in India during the Indian Premier League (2026). His comments come amid England's masterclass performance in the third T20I against India, in which the hosts inflicted a 125-run defeat on India on Tuesday at Trent Bridge, with Archer playing the destructor in chief of the Indian batting, returning with three crucial wickets. 

India, in chase of 202, were skittled for 76, registering their biggest loss in terms of runs. Meanwhile, Archer, who was asked about his plans while bowling to Indian batters, having already come across a lot of them in the IPL, underlined that conditions in India are so normal that the margin for error is very small.

"I think it goes back to normal here," Archer said at the post-match conference. 

"You try to bowl the ball straight on a good length. Whereas over there, because the wickets are so easy and the boundaries are so small, you have to be really, really particular. Whereas here, I feel your margin for error is a little bit bigger." 

Archer also emphasised that a total of 200 is never safe in the IPL, but the same total in English conditions is enough to get you confidence for a win.

"At the IPL, sometimes 200 isn't safe. With 200 on the board on that wicket, I don't want to say we were confident, but I felt it would have taken a really special innings to chase it down. I'm just glad everybody chipped in. Everybody who bowled got wickets today, so it was a complete bowling performance," he said.

As for India, it has been a shambolic tour so far, with the newly appointed captain Shreyas Iyer still searching for a maiden win as a skipper. After suffering a 0-2 series defeat against Ireland, India are scrambling to level the series against England, having gone 0-2 down in the five-match series. The first match had ended in no result. 

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