Mumbai Indians (MI) are likely to take the field without their premier fast bowler Jofra Archer in their IPL 2023 clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday (April 16).

Archer has missed MI’s last two games having featured in their tournament opener against RCB on April 2, as fresh trouble to his elbow has forced him to warm the bench.

The five-time champions are already without their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the entire IPL 2023 season and Archer’s unavailability has certainly compounded their troubles.

"At the moment Jof is being managed by the medical team and I am not a part of those conversations. Whenever they have him ready to play he will be ready to go," MI batter Tim David told the media during pre-match conference.

David acknowledged that it is difficult to plan for KKR's Rinku Singh, who slammed five successive sixes to pull off a victory for his side from the jaws of defeat against Gujarat Titans last week.

Rinku also produced a stunning knock of 58* in 31 balls (4 fours and 4 sixes) in KKR’s last fixture against SRH, albeit in a losing cause.

"They (KKR) have got some dangerous batsmen and (if) our bowlers get them out (early) that will be a perfect start for us," he said.

"But no, it is tough to plan, I think. We are more focussed on ourselves and we want to play a good game and we know when we play our best cricket we are going to top."

Although Mumbai Indians boast a fabulous record against KKR at the Wankhede Stadium, eight wins in nine matches, Tim David feels the challenge will be tough one on Sunday afternoon.

"I am not sure how many games I have played so it's tough to comment on that. It is a new (MI) team but it is our home ground. As a home team here we get great support and we want to make this our fortress," he said.

"We want to get good results all the time and we want to be confident about the style of cricket we want to play here and take on every team."

(With PTI Inputs)