Rajasthan Royals may be out of the playoff race, but Shane Bond isn’t throwing in the towel. The Royals’ pace coach threw his full support behind a resurgent Jofra Archer, praised the squad’s fighting spirit, and made it clear — wearing the RR badge still means playing with pride, passion, and purpose.
"Yeah, he's going great. I mean, it was a tough start for him. But it's been now, he's played every game. He's getting that continuity of performance and getting out of it every day. He's definitely been our best bowler," said the former New Zealand pacer."
"I read some stats the other day... He had caused the most shot percentage and had been unlucky, with catches going down. So I'm really pleased with the way he's gone about his work. He's been hostile."
While Test cricket remains a different challenge, Bond believed Archer still has it in him to be a force in the upcoming series against India if he gets selected.
"In terms of Test cricket, he's got a little bit to go under the belt. Here you're only bowling four overs. It's a big difference to him doing 20 a day. But I'm sure he's in England's plans because he can be such a devastating bowler."
Giving an update on the squad's injury situation, Bond said skipper Sanju Samson was still recovering, while Sandeep Sharma had been ruled out.
Despite Rajasthan Royals being knocked out of playoff contention following their 100-run defeat to Mumbai Indians, Bond urged his players to keep fighting with pride and purpose.
"For me, regardless of whether you're in the competition or not, you've got the RR badge on your chest and it (is) about attitude, like the wanting to turn up, compete, win, and that shouldn't matter if you're in the competition or not. So that energy and intensity is expected from the players regardless of the points table."
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