The first half of the Indian Premier League is completed. Most teams have settled down with their Playing XIs and strategies while others are still figuring out their winning combination. The bottom 4 teams, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals, field different team combinations every game, and yet have not figured out which is their best one.
The Archer Gamble
Before the season had started, Mumbai had the most formidable pace attack in the tournament, filled with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer, Jhye Richardson, Cameron Green, and Jason Behrendorff. The Bumrah-Archer duo was every cricket fan’s dream partnership and MI came very, very close to achieving that. But, with Bumrah’s injury ruling him out, the dream seems to have taken a hit.
When the news of Bumrah’s omission from the season came, all eyes were on Jofra Archer and how he would lead the team’s bowling attack. However, the only problem was that Archer himself was coming back after an injury. Archer had missed out on competitive cricket for almost 2 years because he was nursing an elbow injury. He even missed out on the last 2 seasons (2021 and 2022) of the IPL because of the same issues. Mumbai bought Archer during the last year’s mega auction and held on to him despite him missing the last season.
At a hefty price of Rs. 8 Crores Mumbai saw Archer as an investment and the general idea was that he would pay dividends for the franchise with his pace once he came back to play. Had Mumbai released Archer after the last season, there was a chance they would have to spend more on getting him this season. That is a gamble that Mumbai took.
However, when Archer did come to play this season, it seemed as if Mumbai Indians lost faith in his abilities. While Mumbai Indians have played 7 games so far in this season, Archer has featured only in 2 of them. The only wicket Archer picked was of Sam Curran, which he got in his second game of the season.
No reason to exclude Archer
The worst part is that Mumbai have not given any viable reasons for Archer’s exclusion from the Playing XI. It’s almost as if Mumbai Indians expect Archer to deliver immediately and when he does not, they put him on the sidelines. Mumbai is a resourceful team with one of the best management in the tournament. However, all of them fail to understand that bowlers like Archer rely on their momentum to perform well. If you won’t let him play continuously, how can you expect him to get into rhythm?
For so many years now, the burden of death bowling was born by Jasprit Bumrah. However, in his absence, Mumbai’s death bowling has suffered a lot. In the game against Punjab Kings, Mumbai gave away 95 runs in the last 5 overs. While Archer just gave 23 runs in his 2 overs, the other bowlers went for 72 runs in 3 overs. However, Archer was made to sit out in the next game, but the story against the Gujarat Titans was no different.
In their next encounter against Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians gave away 70 runs in the last 4 overs. Riley Meredith, who came in as a replacement for Archer for that game, bowled 2 overs in the final 4 and gave away 32 runs, almost half of the 70 runs scored. If Archer is struggling with an injury or is not keeping 100% fit, the management should come clean about it. Fans have had huge expectations from the team, given that they finished at the bottom of the table last season. Their situation this season is no better as they currently sit at the 8th spot in the Points Table after the first half.
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