Jofra Archer. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
With ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah likely to miss the entire 16th season of the Indian Premier League, the Mumbai Indians franchise was under tremendous pressure regarding their pace bowling attack. However, they will be slightly relieved as Jofra Archer, who has suffered a lot of injuries in the recent past, is likely to be available for the entire season.
Last year, the franchise signed him for INR 8 crore but he could not feature in a single match as he was dealing with multiple injuries. Meanwhile, the officials of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and IPL have already confirmed Archer’s availability and it is said that his national board will manage his workload in the future.
“He should be able to play a full part in the IPL and as always his franchisee and the ECB will manage his workload,” an ECB source told Cricbuzz while an IPL official added, “Jofra is very much available, have you not seen him in action in the Dhaka ODI.”
Notably, Archer missed almost 18 months of cricket and only recently made his comeback to competitive cricket, while playing for MI Cape Town in the SA20 league.
Archer impresses in first ODI against Bangladesh
Archer was part of the England squad that took on Bangladesh on March 1 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. The pacer was impressive with the ball as he finished with 2/37 in his ten overs. Courtesy of his and England’s brilliant bowling, Bangladesh were restricted to 209 runs.
Meanwhile, soon after the Bangladesh series, Archer is expected to join the MI camp for training ahead of his return to IPL. The five-time champions are scheduled to take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first game of the season at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2.
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