Speedster Jasprit Bumrah advised one more month rehab

Workload management is not a new topic, it has been there for at least the last two decades. Top stars like Ben Stokes alerted about how a crammed-up cricket calendar affects the quality of cricket, requesting the top brass to stop considering cricketers as "cars".


Speedster Jasprit Bumrah advised one more month rehab

Jasprit Bumrah

India’s star speedster Jasprit Bumrah has been advised one more month of rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He was previously included in the ODI squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka but was ruled out as he complained of stiffness in his back.

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Bumrah, who last played an international match in September 2022, missed the Asia Cup as well as the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. Although India did play a few nail-biting group stage matches, they couldn’t proceed to the final of both tournaments. Many believe the reason was the absence of the team’s X-factor – Jasprit Bumrah.

Bumrah’s unorthodox bowling action is always scrutinized; that’s what brought him under the limelight first. Yes, it’s difficult for the batters to pick him because of his unusual loading and release. Well, Bumrah’s bowling action is also the major reason why he is one of the best. Former West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts once told the Indian Express that Bumrah’s action was the “strangest action that I have seen on a cricket field.

Many experts, including former Pakistan spearhead Shoaib Akhtar had previously talked about how Bumrah’s uncanny action could lead to injury. He had felt that Bumrah cannot play in all three formats. “He needs to manage. If you play him every match, in one year, he will completely break down,” the Rawalpindi Express had told Sports Tak. And that’s what exactly happened.

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Should the ICC plan for a sustainable schedule?

Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah suffered from a stress fracture and the injury is not uncommon among fast bowlers in the past. Experts believe that improper fitness and training plus poor workload management can make a fast bowler prone to injury. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has to work a lot on how to handle one of its most important assets properly.

There is debate over Bumrah’s longevity; whether the 29-year-old can still be an all-format bowler in the future. And what about the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he has to play continuously for the Mumbai Indians? It will be his personal call to skip the cash-rich league to focus more on international cricket. Even Australia skipper and fast bowler Pat Cummins pulled his name out of IPL 2023 citing a heavy 2023 international schedule.

So, should the International Cricket Council (ICC), BCCI, and other cricketing bodies plan for a sustainable schedule? Why not? Workload management is not a new topic, it has been there for at least the last two decades. Top stars like Ben Stokes alerted about how a crammed-up cricket calendar affects the quality of cricket, requesting the top brass to stop considering cricketers as “cars“. The proliferation of franchise cricket is another topic for discussion, but another time.

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As the focus has now shifted to the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, the Indian cricket fraternity is just praying for Bumrah’s complete recovery. The BCCI wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes they did last year; of handing Bumrah the ball again right after his recovery. But did BCCI have any choice other than that when the T20 World Cup was approaching? Recently, as Bumrah complained of stiffness after his recovery, the BCCI listened to him and kept him out of the first two matches for the Gavaskar-Border Trophy.

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