England pacer Jofra Archer wants cricket fans to judge him for his cricket skills and not for the hefty price tag against his name.
One of the best white-ball seamers of the current era, Archer started a bidding war at the recent IPL mega-auction as Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians and his former franchise, Rajasthan Royals, went all out to acquire his services.
Eventually, it was the five-time champions, who managed to get hold of him for a whopping sum of Rs 8 Crores.
"I want people to know that if you don't play you don't get paid. I want people to see me as a player and not as a price like that behind me. You only got that money because other teams wanted you," Archer said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Archer also expressed his excitement at the prospect of joining what he termed as a 'close knit' franchise.
"It looks very close knit. Akash (Ambani, the owner of the franchise) called and we spoke about Arsenal - I don't know why he likes Arsenal. It is very a close knit team."
Recalling the events of the auction day and his excitement at the prospect of working alongside the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Kieron Pollard, the Barbados-born cricketer said, "I had to go on IPL website to see the video of it. I was training. Then my phone started to go up, back to back messages. I think SRH and MI team went for me.
When I saw my phone, I knew exactly what happened. I really got excited. It's a great franchise. Mahela (Jayawardene, the MI coach) was my first franchise coach as well. Polly (Kieron Pollard) as well, played a few games against him. This is the first time ever I will be playing in the same team with him. Really excited to get started."
When asked about his views on the IPL as a tournament, Archer said it's a good platform where he gets to showcase his batting skills.
"Asked what he thought of the IPL as a whole, Archer said it is a good platform where he gets to bat enough. It is (IPL) an opportunity to bat. You may not necessarily get the opportunity to bat at your club or country. You may not get a lot in the game, but you always have enough time to bat in the nets. No one chases you at the nets. You can always come back and bat again. To me that helps my batting," the speedster added.
Archer will be available to play for the Mumbai Indians from next season.