SA20: Jofra Archer joins Mumbai Indians Cape Town as a wild card player
Mumbai Indians Cape Town have roped in Jofra Archer as their wild card for the upcoming edition of SA20. The England speedster, part of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has also joined the Cape Town franchise, two teams owned by the same group.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) recently announced that the six franchises have an opportunity to sign a wild card cricketer for their squads. Teams may sign a Proteas or an overseas player, who was not registered for the auction, with December 30 serving as the deadline.
.@JofraArcher, welcome to Cape Town. 🔥💙
@SA20_League wild card pick ✅ https://t.co/7EWaQ7fwRH
Addressing the move, League Commissioner Graeme Smith said, as quoted by SA20.co.za:
"The wild card offers our teams an opportunity to add another world-class player to their squad. The cricket community showed a lot of interest in our League for the auction, I have no doubt we will be seeing six brilliant cricketers joining the SA20."
Six teams - SunRisers Eastern Cape, Mumbai Indians Cape Town, Pretoria Capitals, Paarl Royals, Johannesburg Super Kings, and Durban Super Giants - will participate in the upcoming edition of the tournament, which will begin on January 10.
Jofra Archer has not played competitive cricket since 2021
Archer has not played competitive cricket since July of 2021 when he turned up for Sussex in the T20 Blast. The 27-year-old, who starred in England's 2019 World Cup win, hasn't donned the national colors since March of 2021.
However, the right-arm speedster appeared threatening in the England Lions in a three-day warm-up match against the Test squad, hitting Zak Crawley on the head with a sharp bouncer.
Look who's back 👀 https://t.co/dOfnbIbS4A
The speedster missed two T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 and the Ashes series in Australia.
Mumbai Indians Cape Town had earlier signed Beauran Hendricks, Delano Potgieter, Dewald Brevis, Duan Jansen, George Linde, Grant Roelofsen, Kagiso Rabada, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith, Olly Stone, Rashid Khan, Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickleton, Sam Curran, Waqar Salamkheil, Wesley Marshall, and Ziyad Abrahams.
Simon Katich has been appointed as their head coach, Hashim Amla will serve as the side's batting coach while James Pamment has been appointed their fielding coach.