IPL 2023: Jofra Archer ruled out again with injury, Mumbai Indians ropes in Chris Jordan as replacement

Struggling with fitness, England pacer Jofra Archer was on Tuesday ruled out of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), forcing former five-time record champion Mumbai Indians (MI) to name fast bowler Chris Jordan as his replacement for the remainder of the Twenty20 (T20) event. Archer, who was picked by five-time champions MI for ₹8 crore in the auction, has played just five games this season and taken two wickets. He has been out of international cricket for nearly two years due to a back injury and didn't feature in IPL last year.

Archer's recovery and fitness will be monitored by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as he returns home to focus on his rehabilitation. "Archer has been recovering from right elbow surgery. However, pushing through the discomfort whilst recently playing, hoping it will settle, has proven challenging. Therefore, it has been agreed for him to return to the UK for rest and rehabilitation to give him the best opportunity for a full recovery," ECB said in a statement.

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His replacement, Jordan, made his IPL debut in 2016. He has so far played 28 IPL matches and has 27 wickets against his name. He has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), former champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and former four-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the past.

The 34-year-old, who has represented England in 87 Twenty20 International (T20Is) and has taken 96 wickets, joined the MI camp in April. Jordan batted for close to an hour in the nets on Monday. Jordan joins MI for ₹2 crore. Interestingly, he had gone unsold at the auction held in December last year.

(With inputs from PTI)