Mumbai Indians bought Jofra Archer for a whopping ₹8 crore, but after playing just 5 matches of the IPL 2023, the pacer endured a recurrence of the elbow injury and he left the IPL on 9 May. The franchise bought him to compensate for the absence of their regular pacer Jasprit Bumrah, but the investment doesn’t seem to have paid any returns yet.

“What has been Mumbai Indian’s experience of Jofra Archer? They took a punt on him knowing that he was injured and would be available only from this season. They paid big money for him and what has he given in return? He didn’t seem 100 percent fit and he should have informed the franchise about it. They only realized when he turned up and found that he was barely able to bowl at his usual pace. In between the tournament, he went abroad for treatment which is what his country’s cricket board apparently said. So he was never fully fit but still came over. If he was committed to the franchise, which probably pays him more than the ECB does, he should have stayed right till the end even if he wasn’t going to play and show his commitment towards the franchise. Instead, he has opted to fly off back to the UK,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.

“A day later, a story appears that he is going to get a multi-million-pound deal with Mumbai Indians to play for their team in the various leagues in the world. This has got to be the greatest diversionary trick attempted. Mumbai Indians are not fools to sign a lame horse for any future race. Make no mistake, Mumbai Indians won’t be amused at the turn of events and now that they have come back well in the tournament without his presence, he will be lucky if he gets his full fee for the IPL, and if he does then he would do well to give half to his favorite charity.”

The veteran player also added that if the choice is between choosing to play IPL or for his country, it’s completely okay to choose to play for the country, but if he chooses to play for IPL then fulfilling the commitments is necessary.

“There’s simply no point paying even one rupee for a player, however big a name he may be if he is not going to be available for the entire tournament. It’s got to be the player’s choice to pick playing for an IPL franchise or his country. Full marks to him if he chooses country over IPL, but if he chooses IPL then he has to fulfill his commitments totally and not make some excuse and leave early, especially towards the time when qualifying for the Playoffs becomes crucial,” added Gavaskar.

“For far too long the franchises have been too lenient and allowed players to leave towards the latter half of the tournament. This is mainly a problem with English players and like said earlier, it is totally understandable to choose to play for the country, but if you have signed up for the IPL then you got to fulfill your commitments to your franchise right till the end of the tournament. If the franchise fails to qualify for the Playoffs, you get to return a week early.”