Due to an injury, Jofra Archer, the star fast bowler for the Mumbai Indians, will not be participating in the remaining matches of the IPL 2023.
Throughout the tournament, Archer had been struggling with fitness issues and was absent for five of the team’s ten games. As a result, the Mumbai Indians have roped in Chris Jordan, another experienced English player, to replace Archer.
The Mumbai Indians have officially announced Archer’s departure and stated that the English Cricket Board (ECB) will be monitoring his recovery. Archer has been sidelined due to injuries for a significant portion of the last two years and last played Test cricket in February 2021.
Despite his absence from the IPL, Archer is expected to be part of England’s squad for the Ashes 2023, which begins on June 16 in Birmingham. However, he will not be able to participate in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s starting on June 1, as it is too early for his return to action.
Jofra Archer’s struggles with injury significantly impacted his performance in IPL 2023, managing just two wickets in five innings at an unimpressive economy rate of 9.50.
He last played in the Mumbai Indians’ match against Chennai Super Kings on May 6, where he failed to take any wickets while defending a total of 139 runs.
A History of Injury Troubles for Jofra Archer
Unfortunately, Archer’s injury troubles are not new. He was previously ruled out of the entire 2021 season due to a recurrence of a stress fracture on his right elbow, which was detected during scans.
As a result, he missed the Test series against India, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, and the Ashes series in Australia.
Although Archer returned to play in July 2021 following an operation to remove a bone fragment from his elbow, he continued to experience discomfort while bowling for Sussex during the Vitality Blast and a 50-over friendly against Oxfordshire.
Consequently, he had to undergo another operation on his right elbow in December 2021 to address the ongoing stress fracture. This surgery ruled him out of England’s away Test series against West Indies in 2022.
Mumbai Indians Look to Overcome Injury Woes
Star pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson missed the first few games of the IPL 2023 season due to injuries. Fans anticipated strong performances from Archer, but the right-arm pacer fell short of expectations.
As the Mumbai Indians remain in seventh place in the points table following match number 53 with just five victories from ten games. On May 9, Mumbai Indians will play Royal Challengers Bangalore at Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai Indians Updated Squad
Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Jofra Archer, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Ramandeep Singh, Dewald Brevis, Raghav Goyal, Vishnu Vinod, Riley Meredith, Shams Mulani, Arjun Tendulkar, Tilak Varma, Hrithik Shokeen, Duan Jansen, Sandeep Warrier, Jason Behrendorff, Chris Jordan
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