Mumbai Indians' long wait ends as Jofra Archer joins Rohit Sharma-led side ahead of IPL 2023
Jofra Archer was purchased by MI during the IPL 2022 auction, but missed the entire season. The franchise's long wait has finally ended as the England pacer has joined their team camp ahead of IPL 2023.
With IPL 2023 set to begin on March 31, all eyes will be on Jofra Archer, who will be returning to the Indian Premier League for the first time since the 2020 season. In May and December 2021, the England pacer underwent two operations for an elbow injury, which ruled him out of international cricket for a long period and he also missed last year's T20 World Cup. The bowler made his international comeback for England against South Africa.
Mumbai Indians broke the bank during the IPL 2022 auction, purchasing Archer for ₹8 crore, knowing that he would not be available for that season. MI also acquired Ishan Kishan for ₹15.25 crores, which made the wicketkeeper-batter the most expensive player of that auction.
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MI took to Instagram to update fans that Archer has joined the team's camp, with two social media posts. The first post was of Archer's back facing the camera and the franchise asked the fans to guess the cricketer's name. Then the franchise posted a video of Archer holding and changing into the MI jersey.
Here are the posts:
The posts were well-received by fans, with one reacting, “Jofra Archer is here!! His debut season for Mumbai Indians, a long wait finally over for MI fans.”
"It's Jo time", another user wrote.
Another fan hailed Archer and wrote, “Yorker king.”
The 27-year-old made his IPL debut in 2018, and was purchased in the Player Auction for ₹7.2 crores by Rajasthan Royals. Due to his impressive displays, he was retained for IPL 2020 and IPL 2021. During his IPL career, Archer has taken 46 wickets in 35 matches. His best season was IPL 2020, where he bagged 20 wickets in 14 games. He can also contribute with the bat if needed lower down the order, and has registered 195 IPL runs, with 27* as his highest score.
