England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been reinstated to the final IPL auction list after his name was notably absent from the shortlist sent to franchises last weekend. Reports reveal that franchises were informally notified of Archer’s inclusion on Thursday, just days before the two-day mega auction begins on November 24 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
While the IPL has yet to officially announce Archer’s addition, his inclusion is likely to spark significant interest. Both Archer and his England teammate Mark Wood were surprisingly missing from the initial 574-player shortlist, despite being part of the original longlist and having set the maximum base price of INR 2 crore.
Discussions between Archer, his representatives, the ECB, and the BCCI reportedly resolved concerns about his omission and clarified potential implications.
Archer, who holds a central contract with the ECB until September, has not played Test cricket since early 2021 but remains integral to England’s long-term plans. Managing Director Rob Key expressed optimism about Archer’s Test return in 2024 for series against India and Australia.
However, participation in the IPL would limit Archer’s availability for Sussex in the County Championship’s early stages, complicating his preparation for the Test season. The ECB previously blocked Archer from entering the 2023 auction to prioritize his recovery from injury, though excluding him from this year’s auction could have prevented him from re-entering the league until 2027.
New IPL rules this auction cycle bar players who skip the mega-auction from participating in subsequent mini-auctions. Additionally, players who withdraw after being signed at an auction without valid reasons face a two-year ban. These regulations likely influenced the decision to reinstate Archer.
The 29-year-old pacer returned to international cricket this year after a prolonged injury layoff, featuring in England’s white-ball matches and the T20 World Cup. His workload has been carefully managed, but he successfully played three ODIs in the Caribbean earlier this month.
Archer’s IPL career highlights include being named MVP in 2020 after taking 20 wickets for Rajasthan Royals in the UAE edition.
At the 2022 mega-auction, Mumbai Indians invested INR 8 crore (approximately USD 1.06 million) in Archer despite his unavailability that season due to elbow surgery. He played five matches for MI in 2023, claiming two wickets before an elbow issue ended his campaign prematurely. Overall, Archer has taken 48 wickets in 40 IPL matches.