IPL 2023: Jofra Archer denies rumours of leaving MI camp for elbow surgery in Belgium

English pacer Jofra Archer has denied a report claiming that he left the Mumbai Indians (MI) camp briefly earlier this month to visit an elbow specialist in Belgium to undergo a minor surgical procedure. As reported by ESPN Cricinfo, Archer had a process done on the same troublesome elbow that kept him out of cricketing action for the better part of the last two years.

This resulted in the speedster missing out of the MI playing XI for four games from April 8^th-April 18^th before featuring in the match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Wankhede Stadium last Saturday. Archer was part of the XI that turned up against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Mumbai’s season opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2 but he conspicuously missed all the games for the following 20 days.

 

However, Archer lashed out at the suggestions of him going to Belgium in a Twitter post on Wednesday afternoon. Though he did not attach the article explicitly, the 28-year-old wrote, "Putting out an article without knowing the facts & without my consent is crazy. Who ever the reporter is shame on you , an already worrying and troubling time for a player and you exploit it for your personal gain, it’s people like you that are the problem ."

 

Concerning his absence after the game against RCB, head coach Mark Boucher earlier remarked that he had a niggle but gradually rumours began surfacing of Archer having returned back to England. Cricket commentator and former New Zealand player affirmed the same during one of his appearances on Cricbuzz Live.

As per the  aforementioned report, the English Cricket Board (ECB) is hoping for him to be fit enough to play some part in the Ashes scheduled to be held from June 16 onwards. Archer has not featured in a first-class game for nearly two years now. Hence, he is unlikely to play a prominent role throughout the five-match series but could possibly come in handy in a game or two as the Ashes progresses.

Meanwhile, the pacer looked in fairly good touch when he turned up against PBKS last weekend. Though he conceded 42 runs and picked just one wicket, Archer was clocking his usual pace above 145 kmph. He didn’t play in Mumbai’s away encounter against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Tuesday but is likely to come back into the playing XI to face the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede on Sunday.