Jofra Archer caught sleeping under blanket during RR's batting, then woke up and chose violence against PBKS

During the 14th over of the first innings on Saturday, the camera caught Jofra Archer sleeping under the blanket in the Rajasthan Royals dressing room

England cricketer Jofra Archer was subject to criticism after conceding 109 runs without picking a single wicket in Rajasthan Royals' opening to matches, but he bounced back to form on Saturday in the match against Punjab Kings in Chandigarh, picking three wickets en route to winning the Player of the Match award. And what was his secret? Probably that power nap he took during Rajasthan's batting against PBKS.

Jofra Archer picked three wickets in the match against PBKS

During the 14th over of the first innings on Saturday, the camera caught Archer sleeping under the blanket in the Rajasthan Royals dressing room before he woke up, stretched and padded up to offer his batting services. Although his team did not require him during the opening innings, as Rajasthan scored 205 for four in 20 overs, Archer chose violence in the second innings, where he struck twice in the very first over.

The right-armer, who has struggled with injuries for the last few years, dismissed Punjab opener Priyansh Arya for a golden duck in the first ball of the innings. And although Archer got hit for two boundaries by Shreyas Iyer, he got the better of the in-form PBKS captain in the final ball of the over.

This was the 13th time Archer bowled in the first over of an IPL innings, picking eight wickets at an average of 5.75 and an economy rate of 3.53. Among 106 bowlers who've bowled the first over at least 5 times in the tournament, no one has a better economy or average than Archer. According to CricViz, his average bowling impact in these overs is +7.1 - the best in IPL history.

Archer picked up a third wicket after dismissing Arshdeep Singh as he finished with 3 for 25 in Rajasthan's 50-run win against Punjab.

"Beginning of the tournament that happened but happy to contribute to the win. When there are days like this, you make sure you have to cash in, enjoy the good ones, and take the bad ones in your stride. You will be lucky in some circumstances, everyone is training just as hard as you, everyday is not going to be a great day," he said in the post-match presentation after collecting the Player of the Match award.

With this loss, PBKS has suffered their first defeat of IPL 2025 and have started their home leg with a setback. They are at the fourth spot with two wins and a loss, whereas RR are at the seventh place with two wins in two matches.