SA20: Jofra Archer is fighting a physical and mental battle, REVEALS Mumbai Indians Director of Cricket Zaheer Khan

England and Mumbai Indians pacer Jofra Archer has been sidelined from T20 cricket for more than a year now. On Tuesday, in the inaugural SA20 clash between MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals, Archer bowled in T20 cricket for the first time after 541 days!

Archer went on to claim 3/27 in 4 overs on his return to professional cricket set up his side MI Cape Town’s eight-wicket win at the Newlands stadium in Cape Town. MI teammate Dewald Brevis smashed a brilliant 70 to lift his side to an easy win.

Speaking on Archer’s return to action on Match Centre Live, Viacom18 Sports expert and Mumbai Indians Director of Cricket Zaheer Khan said, “It has to be an emotional one for him as well. When you are playing after so long, pretty much your career is under scrutiny, how you are going to come back. You have to put in a whole lot of hard work, you need to be very patient as well. So, it is not just the physical battle which he must be fighting, it is mental battle as well. It's not easy for anyone to be away from the game for that long. Injury is something that is not in your hands, but how you manage yourself it takes a lot of energy.”

WATCH Jofra Archer’s performance in SA20 opener here…

For a _ spell of 3/27 against @paarlroyals last night, @JofraArcher was our pick for the Bowler of the Match __

More such _ performances incoming at the @SA20_League __ LIVE on #JioCinema & #Sports18 __#SA20 #SA20League #SA20onJioCinema #SA20onSports18 pic.twitter.com/Xz3hIq1Q2P — JioCinema (@JioCinema) January 11, 2023

Former India pacer Zaheer also weighed in on Brevis’ performance. “Certainly, a star in making. There is no doubt about that.”

Former India spinner and IPL Governing Council member Pragyan Ojha too commended Brevis’ temperament and thought his performance was exceptional, “He was brilliant as Zak said. The most important takeaway for me is the temperament he showed. He carried the innings and finished the game.”

Ojha also felt that Brevis is the kind of player who is worth investing in and compared him to the explosive Suryakumar Yadav. “When you look at the Mumbai franchise – the universe, I'm talking about different tournaments they play different leagues then you see Suryakumar Yadav doing that now they have Brevis doing that. So that's a big sign when you invest in these players you want these kinds of players to finish the game. In world cricket, if you see there are very less players who can start the game and finish it and these are the guys there like they'll be like pure gold for any franchise.”