England announced their 15-man squad ahead of the second Test against India at Edgbaston, Birmingham, which is scheduled to start on July 2.
A surprise inclusion has taken the internet by storm, as Jofra Archer made his way to the final squad and is set to face India in the upcoming match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
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This marks the return of the pacer to the longest format of the game after four long years, after being sidelined with multiple career-threatening injuries.
Archer returned to play first-class cricket for Sussex against Durham earlier this week in order to prove his fitness in the red-ball format. He bowled a total of 18 overs and even picked up a wicket in the match. Now, he eyes a place in the starting eleven in the national team.
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Jofra Archer returns to national squad ahead of Edgbaston Test
Jofra Archer is back with the national team squad after February 2021 and is all set to feature in the second Test against India at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
The 30-year-old all-rounder has expressed his confidence in sustaining the rigorous demands of the red-ball format. He also acknowledged the mental battle that he has to overcome in order to stick around with the team in the longest format of the game.
"Now it's a different challenge, because I know my body can hold up to it. The mental part of the game [will be tough]. Over the next couple of days, I'm going to have to battle a bit with it, but it's all good. It's a new challenge, and I'll keep trucking along."
The pacer last featured for England in a Test match against India in Ahmedabad in 2021. Archer has played 13 Tests so far and has 42 wickets to his name.
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Post that match, Archer suffered numerous injuries, which halted his progress in the longest format. He had to undergo surgery to remove a piece of glass from a tendon in his hand, followed by an elbow procedure, which kept him out of action for the Ashes and the T20 World Cup in the same year.
In 2022, Archer suffered a stress fracture in his lower back, which sidelined him for the entirety of the summer. He made his return to white-ball cricket in 2023 but suffered another stress fracture in the same elbow.
Archer's workload management became a thing of concern for England, which saw him miss the entirety of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He finally returned to play for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 2025 edition.
It will be interesting to see if Archer gets the nod straightaway, after notable performances from Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, and Josh Tongue in the first Test at Headingly.