MI Cape Town Pick Jofra Archer As Their Wildcard Signing In SA20

England pacer Jofra Archer will be joining the MI Cape Town franchise in the upcoming T20 league from South Africa, the SA20 after the team picked him as their wildcard signing for the inaugural season of the tournament which gets underway from January 10 onwards.

The wildcard system, which SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith said would “offer our teams an opportunity to add another world-class player to their squad”, was formally unveiled by CSA on Monday. Wildcard players will have a minimum salary of Rand 175,000 [US$ 10,290 approx.], but their wages are not going to count toward teams’ salary caps.

The only other franchise to announce a wildcard signing so far are Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who brought in Jordan Hermann, the uncapped South African batter.

Jofra Archer has been out of action since March 2021 because of a long-standing elbow issue, which was followed by a stress fracture of the lower back. The 2019 World Cup winner for England, missed quite a lot of cricket for England, including two T20 World Cups and two Ashes series apart from IPL 2021 and IPL 2022.

Jofra Archer To England Team-Mates Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, And Olly Stone At MI Cape Town

He was picked by Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 mega auction for INR 8 crores despite knowing he will not be playing for them in the tournament. He has been retained by the franchise for IPL 2023 as well, given that he is making quite progress towards returning to competitive cricket.

Archer is in UAE training with the England Lions and recently played his first match, a three-day warm-up match against England’s Test squad, and made an impact by hitting opener Zak Crawley on his helmet with a sharp bouncer.

Archer will join his England team-mates Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, and Olly Stone at MI Cape Town, whose squad also includes Kagiso Rabada, Dewald Brevis, and Rashid Khan.

The SA20 runs from January 10 until February 11, with a short break in late January for England’s re-arranged ODI series in South Africa.

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