"He's such an exciting guy to have back on the field" - Jos Buttler confirms Jofra Archer for first ODI against South Africa

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler expressed his excitement about Jofra Archer's return ahead of the three-game ODI series against South Africa, which starts in Bloemfontein on Friday (January 27). The keeper-batter confirmed that the fast bowler will don the English colors on Friday for the first time in two years.

The 27-year-old marked his return to competitive cricket with the inaugural edition of SA20 for the Mumbai Indians Cape Town. He has been a top performer for the franchise and is so far their highest wicket-taker, picking up eight wickets in seven games at 18. He last played for England in March of 2021.

Speaking ahead of the first ODI against the Proteas, Buttler reckons Archer's return boosts England exponentially. The 32-year-old expects him to go from strength to strength as time progresses.

He stated, as quoted by Sky Sports:

"It's great to have Jofra back, fit and playing cricket again. I speak on behalf of everyone that he's such an exciting guy to have back on the field. As an England captain, being able to have him back in your squad and the team is brilliant. He's only just coming back to competitive cricket, this will be his first international game for a long time.

"It would be naive to think it wouldn't take him a little bit of time to get up to 100 percent. It's just fantastic to see him fit, back playing again and we know he's just going to get better and better as time goes on."

The right-arm pacer was one of the chief architects of England's 2019 World Cup win on home soil. He finished as their highest wicket-taker with 20 scalps in 11 games at 23.05.

"Hopefully, it can be a repeat of 2019" - Jofra Archer

Earlier, Archer revealed that he hopes to replicate his performances from the 2019 World Cup and the Ashes series in England. However, the Barbadian admitted he is not 100 percent fit yet and conceded.

"I think that was the most important tick for me so far. Playing cricket again for the first time a few weeks ago, I'm still riding off that wave of emotions right now. I'm still a bit stiff and trying to take some of the rust away. I'd probably say I'm about 80 percent.

"Just some fine-tuning now, just more discipline than actual cricket stuff. Hopefully, it can be a repeat of 2019. We've got again a 50-over World Cup and an Ashes in the same year so more of the same, please."

England have 13 ODIs to play before the 2023 World Cup in India, three games each against South Africa, Bangladesh, and Ireland, with four more games to go against New Zealand.