The inaugural edition of the SA20 league got underway on Tuesday with MI Cape Town breezing past Paarl Royals in a local derby at the Newlands. England pacer Jofra Archer, who has been out of action due to multiple injuries, returned to action in style, picking up three wickets as MI Cape Town restricted Paarl Royals to a below-par total of 142/7 in 20 overs. In reply, Dewald Brevis slammed an unbeaten 70 off 41 balls and steered his side to an eight-wicket win.

Speaking on Archer’s return to action, former India pacer Zaheer Khan suggested that the England pacer is not only fighting a physical battle, but also a mental one.

“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,” Zaheer said on Sports18 Match Centre Live.

Archer is expected to make his IPL return later this year. He was bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 8 crore at the mega auction, but missed last season due to multiple injury setbacks.

Zaheer, who is the Global Head of Cricket Development at MI, added that managing injury workload, especially for pacers, is not easy.

“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,” he added.

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