England pacer Jofra Archer made a promising return to competitive cricket after a prolonged hiatus due to multiple injuries.

Archer returned with the figures of 3 for 27 in four overs in his comeback game on Tuesday (January 10), helping MI Cape Town beat Paarl Royals by 8 wickets in the opening game of the inaugural SA20.

After the game, Zaheer Khan, director of cricket at Mumbai Indians, said Jofra is fighting a physical as well as a mental battle.

Notably, five-time IPL champions MI roped in Jofra Archer for a hefty sum of INR 8 Crore in the IPL 2022 mega-auction even though he was not going to be available for the entire season.

“It has to be an emotional one for him as well. When you are playing after so long, pretty much your career is under scrutiny, how you are going to come back. You have to put in a whole lot of hard work, you need to be very patient as well.

“So, it is not just the physical battle which he must be fighting, it is mental battle as well. It’s not easy for anyone to be away from the game for that long. Injury is something that is not in your hands, but how you manage yourself it takes a lot of energy,” Zaheer told Sports 18.

Archer underwent four operations before returning to competitive cricket. He suffered a freak finger injury in 2021, followed by two elbow operations before treating a stress fracture on his lower back. His last appearance for England was way back in March 2021.

Jofra Archer will be next seen in action in MI Cape Town’s match against Durban Super Giants on January 13.

(With PTI Inputs)