Jofra Archer does not want to be evaluated on the basis of the price he received in the IPL auction, but rather on the basis of the player he is. The English pacer, who was born in Barbados, claimed he received the money during the auction because he was in high demand from other franchises. He was purchased by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 8 crore (USD1.04 million).
“I want people to know that if you don’t play you don’t get paid. I want people to see me as a player and not as a price like that behind me. You only got that money because other teams wanted you,” said Archer.
The speedster, who was by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) after missing out on the IPL 2021 season and due to his recurring injury concerns, expressed his excitement at the idea of playing for the team in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
After undergoing two operations to cure an elbow ailment, the 26-year-old is expected to miss the next IPL 2022. Archer, on the other hand, is excited to play for Mumbai in the future.
The 26-year-old will only be available for the Mumbai Indians next season, and he expressed his delight at joining such a close-knit franchise. “It looks very close-knit. Akash (Ambani, the owner of the franchise) called and we spoke about Arsenal – I don’t know why he likes Arsenal. It is very a close-knit team.”
He reflected on the course of events at the auction, where he was pursued by three franchises: Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mumbai Indians and said, “I had to go on IPL website to see the video of it. I was training. Then my phone started to go up, back to back messages. I think SRH and MI team went for me. When I saw my phone, I knew exactly what happened. I really got excited. It’s a great franchise. Mahela (Jayawardene, the MI coach) was my first franchise coach as well. Polly (Kieron Pollard) as well, played a few games against him. This is the first time ever I will be playing in the same team with him. Really excited to get started,” he said.
When asked about the IPL as a whole, Jofra Archer, who played his last international match in March 2021, stated that it is an excellent platform for him to bat sufficiently. “It is (IPL) an opportunity to bat. You may not necessarily get the opportunity to bat at your club or country. You may not get a lot in the game, but you always have enough time to bat in the nets. No one chases you at the nets. You can always come back and bat again. To me that helps my batting,” he said.
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