Bengaluru, Feb. 14: Mumbai Indians went on a bidding war add Jofra Archer to their squad for a whopping Rs. 8 crores on the second day of the mega IPL auction. The bid came as a surprise with Archer not readily available for the upcoming IPL edition due to an injury.
But the former champions were building their side with the future in mind, and the dream of a Jasprit Bumrah-Jofra Archer partnership saw them go big for the England player.
Archer, who would only start playing for the franchise from next season, said he always wanted to represent the Mumbai Indians, the most successful IPL team and he was glad to finally get the opportunity.
In a video posted on Mumbai Indians' Instagram handle, Archer said, "I am super excited to be joining the Mumbai Indians, they have been a franchise that has alwayds been close to my heart and I always wanted to play for them. I am so glad that I have finally gotten the opportunity to play for the franchise and share the dressing room with biggest stars in cricket. Really looking forward to start a new chapter."
Meanwhile, following the successful bid for Archer, Mumbai Indians' Director of Cricket Operations Zaheer Khan had said that though the franchise will have to wait for an entire season to see Archer in action, the wait for the Archer-Bumrah combination will be worth it.
"You are eagerly waiting for the partnership to go on the field and so am I. To see two legendary fast bowlers bowling in tandem and I'm glad that it seems possible and will be worth the wait," said Zaheer.
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In the mega auction, Mumbai's biggest buy was Ishan Kishan. The five-time champs splurged Rs. 15.25 crores on Kishan, making him the most expensive player from this auction. The franchise also picked up uncapped South African cricketer for Rs. 3 crores and splurged Rs. 8.25 crores on uncapped Australian Tim David.
Ahead of the auction, MI had retained skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard.
MI's full squad: Rohit Sharma (Rs 16 crore), Jasprit Bumrah (Rs 12 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 8 crore), Kieron Pollard (Rs 6 crore), Ishan Kishan (Rs 15.25 crore), Dewald Brevis (Rs 3 crore), M Ashwin (Rs 1.6 crore), Basil Thampi (Rs 30 lakh), Tim David (Rs 8.25 crore), Jofra Archer (Rs 8 crore), Daniel Sams (Rs 2.60 crore), N Tilak Verma (Rs 1.70 crore), M Ashwin (Rs 1.60 crore), Tymal Mills (Rs 1.50 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 1.30 crore), Riley Meredith (Rs 1 crore), Fabian Allen (Rs 75 lakh), Mayank Markande (Rs 65 lakh), Sanjay Yadav (Rs 50 lakh), Arjun Tendulkar (Rs 30 lakh), Anmolpreet Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Ramandeep Singh (Rs 20 lakh), Rahul Buddhi (Rs 20 lakh), Hrithik Shokeen (Rs 20 lakh), Mohd Arshad Khan (Rs 20 lakh).