Archer’s horror debut against GT enters unpopular IPL record books

New Delhi:rajasthan royals Pacers didn’t get the star start they expected Jofra Archer The fastest player experienced a nightmare in the first round of IPL 2026 against the Gujarat Titans. Archer struggled with line and pace and ended up bowling 11 balls, joining the list of unpopular bowlers who bowled the longest overs in IPL history.Archer’s haul equaled the joint record for the longest haul in the IPL, with other bowlers including Mohammed Siraj, Tushar Deshpande, Shardul Thakur, Sandeep Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh, both of whom had previously scored 11 overs in the tournament.

Longest overs (number of balls) in IPL history

Archer dropped 18 points in the opening game and looked far from his best. Here’s how the dramatic ball-by-ball play unfolded:Ball 0.1: Archer started off with a short and wide delivery outside off-stump and Syed Sudarsan immediately punished it by slicing the ball across the stumps and hitting the target beautifully.Ball 0.2: Archer bowls one outside off. The shape of the ball changed drastically and Sai Sudharsan threw his bat towards the ball but failed.Ball 0.2 (legally delivered): Archer then bowled a short delivery outside off which went away from the batsman. Sai Sudharsan guided the ball to backward point but failed to score.Ball 0.3: Things got worse for Archer as he oversaw and bowled a no-ball by a huge margin. Sai Sudharsan guided a delivery to backward point but due to lax fielding, a single was taken. The Gujarat Titans also earned a free hit.Ball 0.3 (free shot): Archer flicks the ball through the leg side to long off. Shubman Gill missed the shot and the ball went wide for five runs to the boundary.Ball again 0.3: Archer followed with another wide ball down the leg side while still struggling to control the ball.Ball again 0.3: Another wide ball followed, making it three consecutive wide balls. The free balls continued and the Rajasthan Royals dugout looked tense.Ball 0.3 (legally delivered): Archer finally got right with a yorker outside. Jill tried to force it out, but was completely unsuccessful.Ball 0.4: Archer bowled it at mid-leg and leg and Gill bowled it through square leg for a single.Ball 0.5: Sai Sudharsan survived the lead while trying to cross the finish line. The ball sailed safely past the cover fielder and the batsman completed two runs. The third referee briefly checked for another no-ball but Archer’s back foot was slightly behind the line.Ball 0.6: Archer again slipped behind the stumps to end the match. Sai Sudharsan hit a long-on single, but a knock at the keeper’s end allowed Gujarat Titans to end the match at 18 runs. Rajasthan Royals stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal won the toss and elected to bowl against Gujarat Titans. Jaiswal leads the way for Rajasthan Royals after regular skipper Riyan Parag strained his hamstring in RR’s last game.GT made one change, bringing in Prasidh Krishna in place of Manav Suthar, while RR brought in Shimron Hetmyer and Yash Raj Punja.team:Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja.Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (centre), Sai Sudarsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammad Siraj.