Uncertain about his availability in the upcoming season, injured England pacer Jofra Archer bagged a mouth-watering Rs 8 crore contract from Mumbai Indians in the concluding day of the IPL 2022 Mega Player Auction in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Having a base price of Rs 2 crore, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians were the most interested in getting Jofra Archer’s services in the accelerated auction. Sunrisers Hyderabad also joined the bidding war but, in the end, it was Mumbai Indians who had the last laugh.
The English pacer last played in a T20 international for England against India in March 2021. His last competitive T20 game was for Sussex at the Vitality Blast in July 2021. Archer himself was shocked by the price he was picked for and put out a tweet with emojis of opened-up eyes.
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A lucrative asset for the T20 teams around the world, Archer pulled out of the IPL 2021 due to an injury. He was to about return at the start of 2022, but another surgery in his right elbow in December halted his comeback and was ruled out until summer.
Although time will tell whether Archer can been seen sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah but Mumbai Indians are surely having some long-term plans for Archer.
Interestingly, Archer wasn’t even a part of the initial 1214 players registered for the IPL 2022 auction but was included after several franchises requested the BCCI when the final list of 590 was shared. The 27-year-old has a good IPL record and has played his entire career in the cash-rich league for Rajasthan Royals.
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The Jaipur-based franchise bought Archer in the 2018 auction for Rs 7.20 crore. He played in 35 matches for the Royals picking 20 wickets in the 2020 season and was also named the Player of the Tournament.
