Mumbai Indians' new contract to Jofra Archer to see even ECB taking MI permission: Report

Jofra Archer hasn't had the Indian Premier League season he would have expected for Mumbai Indians. Marred by his persistent injury issues he has only played a handful number of games in IPL 2023 and now has returned to England for his rehabilitation ahead of the Ashes. MI added Chris Jordan to the squad as a replacement for Jofra Archer.

As per a report in Daily Mail, Mumbai are contemplating offering a year-round contract to the England pace bowler in the near future. Should Mumbai manage to acquire his service, the England Cricket Board (ECB) then would have to take permission to avail Archer's service in international matches.

Mumbai Indians to offer year-round contract to Jofra Archer: Reports

Despite knowing his unavailability throughout the last season Mumbai went after him and were successful in picking him up for a whopping 8 crore. For the time being Archer has set his priority as the Ashes and ICC Cricket World Cup are hovering on the horizon and Archer's role would be pivotal in both the events.

He led England to the 2019 World Cup crown and the onus will again be on home to use the Indian condition when the tournament kicks off later this year.

But Mumbai now seek to have the pacer available for the entire year as it would enable him to play in other T20 leagues around the globe. Archer already represented Mumbai in IPL and MI Cape Town in the SA20 and he could further be used in tournaments like the Major League Cricket where the MI owners also own one team.

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But this would pose a threat to ECB's central contract as already several players showed their intention to ditch their country in favour of playing franchise leagues which guarantees lucrative contracts.

It would be a huge ask for Archer to choose between the IPL franchise and the country and it remains to be seen how he opts to play out.