English pace bowler Jofra Archer was supposed to be Mumbai Indians' (MI) trump card in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Especially in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, the franchise had pinned its hopes on Archer.
However, he has been blighted by injury and now illness. He missed four successive matches against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Delhi Capitals (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) respectively, and then he was forced to sit out again against Gujarat Titans (GT) on April 25 after reportedly falling sick.
After making his debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), where he went wicketless and conceded 33 runs, he has been a constant doubt.
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Has Jofra Archer had surgery?
There were reports in the media that the England paceman had flown from the MI camp in order to have surgery on his elbow, but Archer has hit back at those suggestions and claimed they are devoid of facts.
What did Mark Boucher say about Archer's injury?
Archer was spotted warming up before the CSK game on April 8 along with his teammates, but skipper Rohit Sharma, during the toss, announced that he has been rested as a precaution.
In the post-match press conference, Mark Boucher, MI coach, provided a detailed update on the injury.
"He (Archer) has picked up a little niggle, and we have a fantastic medical team looking after him. He's obviously a massive player for us as well, so hopefully, you know they can pass him fit sometime soon," Boucher told reporters at the time.
"We will always look after the player, so if he's not ready to put his hand at play, then we'll look after him as well. But we're following the medical advice from our team at the moment. So yeah, hopefully, he's up for selection pretty soon," he added.
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When is Jofra Archer expected to return for Mumbai Indians?
Archer has been out of international cricket for close to two years nursing a back injury. Despite being injured, he was picked by MI for a whopping Rs 8 crore in the 2022 IPL mega auction.
After playing just one match he complained of feeling pain in his right elbow. Before the DC match, Sharma did not elaborate on his injury and just mentioned that "Jofra is not available."
The extent of the injury was monitored by MI ahead of their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 18, with some reports he could play. He did not make it, but was finally picked against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 22.
However, ahead of the match with GT on April 25 he was once again ruled out, with Riley Meredith replacing him after Archer was apparently ruled out sick.
Archer's next potential match will be when MI take on Rajasthan Royals on April 30.
