Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Jofra Archer is working hard to put himself in a position where he can represent his team once more after missing their last four matches owing to an injury in his right elbow.
The Englishman missed most of the international action in 2022, and also the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season after sustaining an injury. This season, he has only played one match, against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2. He bagged figures of 0 for 33 in his four overs and has been out of commission since, because of what coach Mark Boucher described as a 'little niggle.'
He is expected to rejoin the Playing XI in the next week after bowling four overs in the nets on Thursday, while the ECB — have been in regular contact with the IPL team's medical staff as well.
"Obviously the last two weeks aren't exactly what you would hope for after being so fully active," Archer told ESPNcricinfo. "But it's what you expect when you've been off for a long time: the body's not going to be 100 per cent straight away. There are going to be moments where it feels a lot more serious than it actually is. I don't know which game will be the next game, but I'm just trying to put myself in the best position possible [to play].
"To be honest, I still want to bowl fast and stuff - but when you feel good, you bowl good. I just want to focus on feeling good at the minute," the fast bowler added.
MI brought in Archer for Rs 8 crore in IPL 2022's auction despite public knowledge that he would miss that season through injury. Since then, he has represented MI Cape Town, their affiliate franchise in the SA20, where he played alongside the likes of Dewald Brevis and Duan Jansen.
"Everyone has welcomed me with open arms. It's a great franchise and hopefully, I get the opportunity to win a few games for them. We've won more games than we've lost which is miles better than what we did last year, so everything is going well and the mood in the camp is good."
Meanwhile, Mumbai's next match will see them face off against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Saturday's night fixture.
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