Mumbai Indians bid an amount of Rs 8 crore to pick England fast bowler Jofra Archer in the Indian Premier League mega auction on Sunday.
Heading into the accelerated auction with the biggest purse remaining among the 10 teams, the five-time IPL champions faced competition from Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals too wanted him back, but were relentless in their pursuit of Archer.
Blog: Day two of the IPL 2022 mega auction
It was an interesting move by MI as Archer is likely to miss the entire 2022 edition of the T20 tournament due to elbow injury. According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, IPL chief operating officer Hemang Amin had interacted with the England and Wales Cricket Board before informing all the franchises that they would NOT get a replacement if they picked Archer and he didn’t turn up for the season.
Archer made his IPL debut in 2018 and was with Rajasthan Royals from the start. But his injury forced him to miss the 2021 edition entirely. He last played an international game in March 2021 – a T20I in India. According to ECB, he is likely to return to action only in June.
The 26-year-old may well miss IPL 2022 but MI will be hopeful he comes good in the two seasons after that. He is rated as one of the finest fast bowlers of his generation and along with Jasprit Bumrah, he could form a lethal pair for Mumbai Indians.
“Jofra has been a player that Mahela (coach Jayawardene) gave his first professional debut to and since then, we have been thinking about them (Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer) as a pair and we’re so happy that we got them together although it’s going to be next year but we’re very very happy to have Jof and Boom make a lethal pair for our bowling attack,” said MI owner Akash Ambani.
IPL Auction 2022: Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani explains bids for Jofra Archer, Tim David & more
.@JofraArcher's first words as a मुंबईकर 💙
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 13, 2022
Listen up, Paltan! 🔊#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #AalaRe #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/9wY1XVyAYI
Also read:
IPL Auction 2022 as it happened: Ishan, Chahar, Thakur, Krishna, Avesh rake in the big bucks
IPL 2022 Auction, day one: Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar go big – full list of players signed by teams
IPL Auction 2022: From Ishan Kishan to Deepak Chahar - A look at the most expensive reunions
Watch: Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and more react to mega bids at IPL 2022 auction
Here are some reactions to the eye-ball grabbing moment from Sunday:
𝐉𝐨𝐟𝐫𝐚 + 𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐭 = 🤔
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 13, 2022
What would you name this duo? 👀
चला पलटन, लवकर बोला! 👇#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #AalaRe #TATAIPLAuction #IPLAuction @JofraArcher @Jaspritbumrah93 pic.twitter.com/MOtM9OT2Gg
👀
— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) February 13, 2022
You know you are good when you go for a Million dollars & you are injured !!! #Jofra #IPLAuction2022
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 13, 2022
Bumrah and Archer in tandem. Who wants to open the innings? #IPLAuction
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) February 13, 2022
Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah together at Mumbai Indians in 2023 and beyond - arguably the two best T20 quicks in the world. Looks typically smart from Mumbai sacrificing a bit in season 1 of the cycle to be stronger after
— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) February 13, 2022
With Bumrah, Jofra and Mills, MI will be either paying the hospital bills for the batsmen of other teams or for their three bowlers. There is no in between.
— Manya (@CSKian716) February 13, 2022
Mumbai Indians - One end Bumra, one end Jofra.
— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) February 13, 2022
Other teams - What, ra?#IPLAuction
Bumrah and Jofra.
— Adam Sutherland (@ADSutherland_) February 13, 2022
Thanks everyone else for coming.
Jofra Archer after watching the bidding war for him. 😅#TATAIPLAuction #IPLAuction https://t.co/1RqvoQKMXG
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) February 13, 2022
MI chilling in 2022 and going to unleash Sam Curran, Jofra Archer and Mitchell Starc in 2023 along with Bumrah. Good luck everyone #IPLAuction
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) February 13, 2022
Jofra Archer to Mumbai Indians. Bumrah-Archer! Wrap up this tournament already.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) February 13, 2022
Bumrah & Jofra in the same team. 🔥🔥
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) February 13, 2022
The bowling equivalent of Kohli - AB de Villiers.
Can't wait to see them bowl together. #IPLAuction https://t.co/e9TWkRNhGY
8 overs of Bumrah and Jofra? Good luck #IPLAuction https://t.co/cBeY4JP0jf
— Sreshth Shah (@sreshthx) February 13, 2022
Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer in the same bowling line-up can hit the spirits any opposition team. #Archer #IPLMegaAuction
— Rahul Rawat (@rawatrahul9) February 13, 2022
MI can afford to tank a season for all that they have achieved so far, but unless franchises have been told that they wouldn't forced to release players anymore, going this heavy on Brevis & Jofra is ridiculous.
— Alagappan Vijayakumar (@IndianMourinho) February 13, 2022
Maybe this is the last mega auction after all.
With Bumrah, Jofra and Mills, MI will be either paying the hospital bills for the batsmen of other teams or for their three bowlers. There is no in between.
— Manya (@CSKian716) February 13, 2022
Now we know what Mumbai Indians were upto. Not this season, but if fit and available - Archer will pair up with Bumrah to fire thunderbolts together … Very very interesting strategy #IPLAuction
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) February 13, 2022
I had a feeling Jofra had entered the auction this year to go to a 'top' team as opposed to being picked up by whoever had the highest purse next year (usually a bad team). Proper winner.
— Kieran (@BerbaSpinCric) February 13, 2022
We all know Jofra Archer can tweet the future!
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 13, 2022
But @bhogleharsha knows what the future holds for #JofraArcher, as he rightly predicts Mumbai's purchase of the speedster!#CricketTwitter #IPLAuction #KismaNews #MI @KismaNews pic.twitter.com/hjk52hfGpT