Mumbai Indians' Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 campaign preparation started with reports of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah missing the entire season, but they will now be buoyed by the fact that English fast bowler Jofra Archer will reportedly be available for the full season.
Leading cricket media outlet Cricbuzz reported that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and IPL official confirmed on Wednesday, March 1, that "He should be able to play a full part in the IPL and as always his franchisee and the ECB will manage his workload."
Archer has been included in England's ongoing visit to Bangladesh as a part of the ODI squad. He played the first match in Dhaka on Wednesday, picking up two wickets for two for 37 runs in his stipulated 10 overs. He is expected to now lead their attack in Bumrah's absence, with MI kicking off their return to the tournament against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2.
The five-time champions spent a mighty Rs 8 crore to acquire his service during the 2022 mega auction despite the Barbados-born pacer being injured for the season. While the initial plan of the MI coaching staff might have been to have Bumrah and Archer lead their two-pronged pace attack, it now looks like Archer will have to shoulder the burden by himself.
The other possible pace options in the MI squad include Jhye Richardson and Jason Behrandorff, but with Bumrah being their main Indian all-out pacer, a lot of pressure will be mounted on their new head coach Mark Boucher.
Archer has not played competitive cricket for almost 18 months, from the second half of 2021 till the end of 2022. He returned for the SA20 league, playing for MI Cape Town, a fully owned subsidiary of the Mumbai Indians management, in January. He turned out for five games in that tournament and also represented England in the three-match ODI series against South Africa.
