Long before his England debut and still a year far from his tournament-deciding super over in the ICC 2019 cricket World Cup final, Jofra Archer was making his debut for Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL). All that was known of him back then was that he was a West Indies U19 cricketer, whose promising career has been threatened with a recurring knee injury. Archer had shown glimpses of the player he could and was going to be in the future in the Big Bash League, enough to persuade RR to pay Rs 7.2 INR at the players’ auctions – almost 36 times his bade price. But his knee problems returned right before IPL 11 and Archer had to miss the first few games. It was on this day, Archer made his RR & IPL debut. This Day That Year: When Sachin Tendulkar's 143 Against Australia Caused 'Desert Storm' in Sharjah (Watch Video).

Back from the two-year suspension, the Royals were slow to start and had won only two in the first five matches before the game against Mumbai Indians this day, that year. Archer bowled an opening spell and controlled the run flow but finished wicket-less with Dhawal Kulkarni taking the only wicket that fell in the powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan shared a century run partnership and Mumbai were escaping before three quick wickets pulled Rajasthan back into the match. Twitterati Remember Sachin Tendulkar's 'Desert Storm' Innings Played on This Day in 1998 Against Australia at Sharjah.

The Archer came to bowl again at the death with a set Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya looking to go big. But the latter was foxed by a slower one and only offered an easy catch to Heinrich Klassen to hand Archer his maiden IPL wicket. Hardik came and smashed Archer into the boundary off his second delivery but Archer replied with a toe-crushing Yorker to rattle Hardik’s stumps before doing the same to Mitchell McClenaghan. He finished with figures of 3/22 in four overs.

Archer came also came handy with the bat and partnered Keishnappa Gowtham in the chase as the Royals pulled off a sensational last over win under dramatic circumstances beating Mumbai by three wickets. Archer was awarded Player of the Match for his brilliant performances. It was the start of an incredible journey for the Barbados-born English cricketer, on that climaxed with the thrilling super over supershow at Lord’s a year later.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 22, 2020 12:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).