"What has he given in return?" - Sunil Gavaskar slams Jofra Archer for his lack of commitment towards MI in IPL 2023

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar is disappointed with Jofra Archer heading back to the UK and not giving his all for the Mumbai Indians (MI) during the IPL 2023 season. Archer played just five games this season and was in and out of the side due to an elbow injury.

MI had paid a whopping INR 8 crore for Archer's services during the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, despite knowing he would be available for the year later. Gavaskar questioned Archer's commitment towards the franchise as he felt the speedster should have told Mumbai he wasn't fit enough to play the entire tournament.

In his column in Mid-Day, here's what Sunil Gavaskar wrote about Jofra Archer and his disastrous season with MI:

"They took a punt on him knowing that he was injured and would be available only from this season. They paid big money for him and what has he given in return? He didn't seem 100 percent fit and he should have informed the franchise about it.

"In between the tournament, he went abroad for treatment which is what his country's cricket board apparently said. If he was committed to the franchise, who probably pay him more than the ECB does, he should have stayed right till the end even if he wasn't going to play and show his commitment towards the franchise."

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No point playing even one rupee: Sunil Gavaskar on importance of players' commitment to franchise

Sunil Gavaskar also opined that players who are not available for the entire IPL season shouldn't be paid their full salaries by the franchises. He claimed that while a player can decide whether to play for country ahead of a franchise, if he chooses the latter, there shouldn't be any excuses made to leave the tournament early.

On this, Gavaskar stated:

"There's simply no point paying even one rupee for a player, however big a name he may be, if he is not going to be available for the entire tournament. It's got to be the player's choice to pick playing for an IPL franchise or his country.

"Full marks to him if he chooses country over IPL, but if he chooses IPL then he has to fulfil his commitments totally and not make some excuse and leave early, especially towards the time when qualifying for the Playoffs becomes crucial."

It will be interesting to see if MI retain Jofra Archer ahead of the mini-auction for IPL 2024.