England pacer Jofra Archer was recently signed by Mumbai in the mega auction ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian T20 League. The right-arm pacer entered the auction with a base price of two crores INR. The five-time winners had to battle with Rajasthan and Hyderabad to acquire his services. Eventually, Mumbai acquired his services for INR 8 crores. This was after Archer made himself unavailable for the 2022 season, reflecting the aura he has created for himself.
The 2019 World Cup winner has been out of the game since February last year due to an elbow injury. The 26-year-old recently spoke about the massive money he received. Archer said that he wants people to remember him as the player he is, rather than the price he got. He added that he received a huge sum because he was in demand.
“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, 26, making his first public comment since being picked at the auction.
He also detailed how he get to know about his signing. The pacer was delighted to share the dressing room with the likes of Kieron Pollard and Mahela Jayawardene. “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 was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
