Archer missed the first test against India due to the same elbow issue which becomes prominent during the start of the Cape Town test which will be scheduled in 2020. The injury was a stress fracture and he was ruled out of the Sri Lanka tour as well as IPL. But, both the schedule was rescheduled due to covid-19 and he was able to play both the events.
The England head coach Chris Silverwood quoted that ' We are not thinking about surgery at this moment. But we are looking at the ways to figure out how to deal with this problem in a long run.' He also said that he is monitoring his fitness before deciding that he would play in the T20I series or not. We personally want him to have a long test career.
England certainly wants Archer to be fit for their home test series which starts in August. But, their real aim is the T20 world cup followed by the ashes which are scheduled to be held at the end of the year.
Keeping that in mind, he may need a lot of rest or even surgery if required. All these need to happen rather quickly rather than waiting for the situation to get worse.
So, if this happens, then it raises the questions about his availability of participation in IPL 2021 which starts in April and happens till May. The England head coach Silverwood also confirmed that the players of England who are involved in the knock-out stages of the IPL won't be called back until the tournament ends.
The final of IPL 2021 is going to be played on May 30th and the first test scheduled against New Zealand is going to take place on June 2 which would have been ruled several players had this not been implemented.
For instance, the Rajasthan Royals squad has players such as Ben Stokes, Jos Butler, and Archer in their line-up. Lastly, he quoted that they would be available for the entire season. Further, we are looking ahead for the New Zealand series and we are figuring out the preparation that is needed for the same. Currently, we haven-t done anything but we would do it with time.