Former West Indies player-turned-expert Ian Bishop has heaped praise on the way Jofra Archer was bowled against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) during the Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday, April 25. 

Archer with the new ball has been a massive threat for opening batters all season long during this season’s Indian Premier League. The England fast bowler has already taken three wickets on the first ball of the innings, which could have been four had wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel held on to the catch behind the stumps.

Bishop reckons that some SRH batters would have found it extremely difficult to face a fired-up Jofra Archer.

The former player-turned-pundit believes that a fit and hungry Englishman is a box office viewing in the current game. 

"I am sure there was a point last night, even if briefly, that some batters saw their own mortality flash before their eyes when Jofra Archer was bowling. At his most motivated and in his best rhythm, Jofra is one of the great sights in the modern game,’’ Bishop said on X (formerly Twitter).

Archerwas constantly bowling at speeds of above 140 against SRH in Jaipur. His first over had everything, including a dropped catch, a wicket and a nasty delivery to the new batter. Despite Jurel dropping Travis Head’s catch on the first ball, the fast bowler had to wait just four balls to get the better of the Australian batter. 

However, his first ball to Ishan Kishan was the pick of the bunch, despite it going for a six. Archer welcomed the left-hander with a short ball at a speed of 145.4kph.

The former SRH captain did not have much time to react and tried to duck, only for the ball to fly to the boundary of the bat’s top edge. 

The 31-year-old is currently the third-highest wicket-taker in the IPL, with 13 scalps to his name at an economy rate of 8.03 and a strike-rate of 13.38.