Chris Jordan Replaces Jofra Archer In Mumbai Indians Squad For Rest Of IPL 2023 Season

England all-rounder Chris Jordan has replaced his teammate Jofra Archer in the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad for the remaining Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. Jordan will be joining five-time champions MI for Rs 2 crore and should be available for their next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday night.

“Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday named Chris Jordan as a replacement for the injured Jofra Archer for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Jordan, who made his IPL debut in 2016, has so far played 28 IPL matches and has 27 wickets against his name. The speedster has represented England in 87 T20Is and has scalped 96 T20I wickets,” an IPL statement read on Tuesday.

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Chris Jordan will join the MI squad for the rest of the season.

Chris replaces Jofra Archer, whose recovery and fitness continues to be monitored by ECB. Jofra will return home to focus on his rehabilitation._ pic.twitter.com/wMPBdmhDRf — Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 9, 2023

Archer managed to play in only 5 out of the 10 matches for MI this season and struggled to pick up just a couple of wickets. He had an economy rate of 9.5 and average of 95.

The 28-year-old England pacer has been struggling with an elbow injury which kept him out of the IPL 2022 season as well. “Obviously the last two weeks aren’t exactly what you would hope for after being so fully active. But it’s what you expect when you’ve been off for a long time: the body’s not going to be 100 per cent straight away. There are going to be moments when it feels a lot more serious than it actually is. I don’t know which game will be the next game, but I’m just trying to put myself in the best position possible (to play),” Archer said in a conversation with ESPNCricinfo last month.

Overall in his IPL career, Archer has picked up 48 wickets in 40 matches. He was bought by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 8 crore at the IPL 2022 mega auction, however, since then he has only appeared in a handful of matches.

Archer was expected to lead the MI attack for Rohit Sharma’s side in the absence of pacer spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who is missing the entire 2023 season due to back injury. Jordan, who was part of the England’s squad which won the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia last year, has been part of teams like RCB and Chennai Super Kings in the past.

Jordan has 27 wickets in the Indian Premier League in 28 matches till date with a best of 4/11. Meanwhile, England Cricket Board (ECB) also confirmed that Archer had been struggling to recover from elbow injury.

"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 a period of rest and rehabilitation to give him the best opportunity for a full recovery," an ECB statement read.

"The ECB would like to thank the Mumbai Indians for their support and cooperation during this time. Archer will return to the UK this week and will work on his rehab with the ECB medical department and Sussex County Cricket Club, respectively," the statement added.