IPL Report | Jofra Archer to be available to MI for full season with managed workload

The Indian Premier League's upcoming season, set to begin on March 31, has been given a major boost in terms of international firepower with both the organizers and England Cricket Board confirming Jofra Archer would be made available for the entirety of the season. Cricbuzz reported that the right-arm quick would play his fourth IPL season but the franchise would be expected to manage his workload given a crucial Ashes series and the World Cup awaits after the T20 tournament. Archer currently plies his trade for the Mumbai Indians, having been bought by them in 2022 for a whopping sum of INR 8 crores despite being ruled out with injury last season, and is yet to make his debut for the five-time champions. 

"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 was quoted saying by Cricbuzz.

Archer has only featured in a handful of games since 2020, having first encountered issues with his elbow on a tour of South Africa pre-pandemic. Since, the Caribbean-origin pacer has undergone two major elbow surgeries, a fractured back and a minor finger surgery after a freak accident while cleaning his fish tank. The 27-year-old returned to professional cricket recently with five appearances in the SA20 for MI Cape Town followed by two ODI appearances against South Africa in the middle of the league.

Presently, Archer is playing a three-match ODI series in Bangladesh where he returned figures of 10-0-37-2 in the first encounter in Dhaka. Archer was also named in the T20I squad for the three-match series to follow the 50-over clashes with the last affair of the tour slated to take place on March 14.

"Jofra is very much available, have you not seen him in action in the Dhaka ODI," an IPL counterpart added to the claims. 

MI's IPL campaign is scheduled to begin on April 2 against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in a revamped format for the event featuring two separate groups of five teams.