Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that Mumbai Indians (MI) were patiently waiting for Jofra Archer to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction. Archer came to the fore in the accelerated auction when his former team, Rajasthan Royals (RR), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and MI were engaged in a bidding war.
But in the end, the Mumbai-based team secured Jofra Archer at a price of INR 8 crores in the IPL auction. Archer hasn’t played any form of international cricket since March 2021 due to a number of injuries and he’s unlikely to take part in the 2022 IPL as well.
Pathan, who retired from all forms of cricket in January 2020, said that Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah bowling together can give oppositions plenty of headaches.
Pathan speaks on Jofra Archer pairing with Bumrah in the IPL
“Mumbai Indians were waiting for Archer’s name to come. It’s a masterstroke. There are no two ways about it. Even if Archer doesn’t play for one year, they will have Bumrah and Archer bowling together. It would be like Malinga and Bumrah bowling together for the franchise,” Pathan was quoted as saying on Star Sports.
Archer made his IPL debut in 2018 after he caught the limelight while playing for Sussex and the Hobart Hurricanes. The Barbados-born pacer thereafter played for the Royals after which he was included in England’s World Cup squad.
In the final at the Lord’s, he bowled at the Super Over and helped England win the 50-over event by beating New Zealand in the final. Archer once got Steve Smith concussed with a vicious bouncer during the 2019 Ashes Test at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Ahead of the 2022 edition of the IPL, Zaheer Khan, the Mumbai Indians (MI) Director of Cricket Operations, said that he’s waiting to see Bumrah and Jofra Archer bowling in tandem in the IPL.
Archer won the award for the Most Valuable Player back in the 2020 IPL when the Royals failed to qualify for the playoffs. The tournament had taken place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after being shifted out of India.
Apart from Archer, MI also bought the likes of Dewald Brevis, Ishan Kishan, Tim David, Daniel Sams among others in the IPL auction.
The Mumbai-based franchise failed to qualify for the playoffs last time around after their batters failed to make a mark in the tournament. MI won the title in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 respectively.
