Mumbai Indians’ Left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff is hopeful of the return of their star pacer Jofra Archer, stating that the England pacer is recovering very well. The 2019 World Cup winner has missed out on four matches on a trot for the five-time champions after playing his debut game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Speaking to the media, ahead of their clash against Punjab Kings, Jason Behrendorff opened upon Jofra Archer’s injury stating that the medical team is working closely with the England speedster and will take a call on his participation in the forthcoming games.
“The medical team has been working tirelessly with Jof. He has been training stronger, which is a really positive sign for us. We are waiting for the medical team to tick off him. Hopefully, he is not too far away,” Jason Behrendorff said.
Jofra Archer made a comeback after a long lay-off in the SA20 tournament for MI Cape Town where he was rested in alternative matches. Archer made his return to the National side against South Africa and Bangladesh where he played only 4 matches out of 6 matches.
Behrendorff said that the team management would love to have him back in the mix, as he can provide vital breakthroughs for the team, and added that their new signing Riley Meredith has done well in the limited opportunity for the Mumbai Indians.
“We would love to have Joff back. It’s one of those things, it’s a tough role to fill. With Riley coming in, he bowls with a good pace, so that sort of makes that change a little bit smoother. We are all playing to our strengths and we complement each other nicely. So we have a good attack,” he added.
The England pacer was excepted to lead Mumbai Indian bowling attack in absence of their star Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson but could not play all the games for his side so far. The five-time champions have managed to do well, with the likes of young Cameron Green and Arjun Tendulkar stepping in for the Rohit Sharma side.
I Think It’s a Good Opportunity To Give Guys Game – Jason Behrendorff
Jason Behrendorff shared his views about the impact player rule stating that it will benefit the players in the squad and it can provide an opportunity for players with a minor injury to contribute to the game citing the examples of Faf du Plessis and Rohit Sharma, who played as the impact player of the team in the league stage.
“If I bowl my 4 overs fine and then walk off, it will be nice, isn’t it? It will be a bit of a rest. I think it’s a good opportunity to give guys a game, we saw the other night with Faf du Plessis when we were not 100 percent on the field, he could just bat and make an impact. We saw the other night with Rohit Sharma, he was a bit under the weather and he only batted,” Jason Behrendorff added.
The five-time champions made a brilliant comeback winning three games in a row after facing back-to-back defeats in the first two games they played, for their sixth game in the season Rohit Sharma-led side will take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 22 at Wankhede Stadium on Mumbai.