Mumbai Indians are all set to begin their campaign for IPL 2023 against Royal Challengers on Sunday at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The five-time champions, who finished at the bottom of the points table last season, will aim for redemption. However, the Rohit Sharma-led side faced a blow even before the start of tournament, as they will be missing out on the services of their senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah. The star India pacer has been out of action since September 2022 and will be missing the IPL as well as the upcoming World Test Championship final, due to his back injury. Bumrah’s injury means that MI fans will have wait for another year to see the pace duo of him and Jofra Archer, together on field.

As the 16th edition of the cash-rich league is just around the corner, Mumbai Indians have posted a video on their Instagram, which won a lot of hearts of the fans. The video is from the final clash of the recently concluded Women’s Premier League, where Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi Capitals to clinch the inaugural title.

In the video, the pace duo of Archer and Bumrah was seen together, exchanging some laughter and cheering the women’s team during the final match.

“High speed warning,” commented a fan.

“Speed in this one video is probably faster than sound,” wrote another fan.

Archer was acquired by Mumbai for Rs 8 crore during the 2022 mega auctions. However, the England pacer had missed out on the previous season as he was recovering from his elbow injury. He returned to action during England’s three-match ODI series against South Africa, earlier this year.

Talking about Bumrah, the senior India pacer underwent back surgery in New Zealand, as he races against time to get fit for the ICC Cricket World Cup, which will be held in India from October-November this year.

Bumrah has not played any competitive cricket since September last year when he pulled out of the white-ball series against South Africa at home. His withdrawal from the series was due to a stress reaction in his lower back. He attempted a comeback in January during the white-ball home series against Sri Lanka, but niggles in the back did not let it happen either.

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