One of Mumbai Indians' key bowlers could be missing the marquee league stage encounter against the Chennai Super Kings.
Mumbai Indians (MI) could be in for a major headache ahead of their famed clash with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday (April 8) in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The five-time champions, already struggling with their bowling resources, could also lose premier seamer Jofra Archer to an injury for the marquee fixture.
Archer is a doubtful starter for the match against MI’s longstanding arch-rivals after injuring his elbow ahead of the CSK encounter. The England right-arm quick is the leader of MI’s in-transition bowling unit but could be ruled out of Saturday night’s famous bout with MS Dhoni and company.
The tall seamer, who bowled an encouraging spell in the loss against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, could be missing MI’s first home game of IPL 2023 at the Wankhede due to an elbow injury that has tamed his wings prior to the CSK clash.
There is no official confirmation from MI in relation to Jofra Archer’s injury and potential absence, but former India cricketer turned commentator, S Badrinath hinted in a YouTube clip that he is down with an injury to his bowling hand and might be skipping the forthcoming game.
Badrinath said in a clip going viral on Twitter as well that MI’s ace pacer has hurt his elbow and could be missing the CSK game.
Notably, Jofra Archer has had a persistent issue with his elbow over the past two years after he went through two separate surgeries to remove an impingement on the joint of his bowling arm.
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The last thing the Mumbai think-tank led by coach Mark Boucher and skipper Rohit Sharma would want is for Archer to do some serious damage on his elbow and miss more games, or worse, the remainder of the season, especially as they continue to suffer on the bowling front.
Jofra Archer has injured his elbow and is doubtful for today’s match against CSK#CSKvsMI #MIvsCSK #CSKvMI #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/F1pg5Sac16
— Cric Irfan (@Irfan_irru_17) April 7, 2023
The franchise has already lost their ace speedster Jasprit Bumrah for IPL 2023 entirely with persistent lower-back trouble, which has only further exposed their bowling troubles, compiled since the time the team had to lose their settled crop of players at the mega auction held last season.