England paceman Jofra Archer will play for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL after the franchise stumped up £783,000 on the first day of this weekend's auction.
Archer, 26, missed England's Ashes debacle this winter after undergoing a second bout of elbow surgery - and although he will not be recovered in time to play the 15th edition of India's T20 showpiece this year - Mumbai have deemed him worth the gamble and signed him up for the 2023 and 2024 campaigns.
It means he will eventually form a mouth-watering partnership with Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, albeit 12 months later than fans would like.
"The ECB has registered Jofra Archer for the auction with a view to potential participation in 2023 and 2024, as due to his current injury it is unlikely that he can participate in IPL 2022," IPL chief operating officer Hemang Amin had said ahead of the auction.
"Therefore, his name has been included in the auction list, but he won't feature in the marquee or other sets to be presented. "
ODI World Cup winner Archer won the IPL Most Valuable Player award in 2020 despite his team, Rajasthan Royals, finishing bottom, but has since been plagued by injury and not played any international cricket since last March.
His capture formed part of a huge day for his new franchise, with wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan joining £1.5m to become the second most expensive Indian player in IPL history, after former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.
Archer's England teammate Tymal Mills also joined Mumbai.
However, it proved a mixed auction for England's star white-ball players, with one-day and T20 captain Eoin Morgan, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL final last year, being left unsold.
England's Dawid Malan, the fifth-ranked T20 batsman in the world, all-rounder Chris Jordan, spinner Adil Rashid and wicketkeeper Sam Billings were also not signed.
But explosive batsman and spinner Liam Livingstone notched the accolade of being the most expensive foreign player in this year's auction, signed by Punjab Kings for £1.1m.
Four years after making his T20 debut, Livingstone returned to the national side against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in June, and then was integral as England made the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in November.
Fast bowler Mark Wood was also snapped up on day one, joining new franchise Lucknow Super Giants for £734,000, while Chris Jordan was bought by Chennai Super Kings
