England banks on Jofra Archer's 'fear factor' to tackle Pakistan in T20I series

All-rounder Sam Curran expressed his excitement about Archer's return

PHOTO: AFP

As England prepares to face Pakistan in a four-match T20I series starting on May 22 in Leeds, all eyes are on right-arm pacer Jofra Archer who is making a comeback in international cricket after recovering from an injury.

Having recently displayed top form in the Second Eleven Championship at Beckenham on May 17, Archer's performance reassured the England squad of his readiness.

England all-rounder Sam Curran has expressed his excitement about Archer's return.

"It's incredibly exciting to have a player of his quality," Curran said. "I'm sure England fans and players are extremely buzzed to have him back.

"He's obviously got that extra pace and fear factor we can bring to the opposition. We all hope his injuries are behind him now," he added.

Last year's disappointing 50-over World Cup in India has heightened England's determination not to repeat past mistakes.

"Jof's had a really tough couple of years — we all hope he can come back and do what he does for England and bring the A game that we know he's got," he said.

As reigning T20 champions, England is keen to regain their form ahead of the World Cup defense in the West Indies in June. He also highlighted the importance of team cohesion in the upcoming series.

"The messaging from Jos [Buttler] and the coaching staff was they wanted to get the group back together and we probably didn't have that last time," Curran said.

"We've been apart for a while so these games are going to be really crucial. We want to be playing as a team and get used to our roles."

"There's a lot of buzz around the group, it seems like we're back to our energy and it seems like the boys are really fizzed about this trophy hopefully coming back," he concluded.

Squads:

England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan

Pakistan vs England men’s T20I series: