India seamer Mohammed Siraj paid his tribute to ex-England batter Graham Thorpe on Friday. Siraj wore a special white headband in honour of Thorpe, who passed away a year ago. He was battling illness and Friday was marked as 'A Day for Thorpey'
After two days of cloudy skies and rain making an appearance, Day 3 of the fifth Test could be bright and sunny throughout. Weather prediction by the local department says 0% chances of rain. But if you're familiar with the UK, you can never be sure of the weather. it can go from rain to dry quickly and the other way around as well. Irrespective, it does look like it'd be a timely start at The Oval.
Jasprit Bumrah played three Tests in the series as was stated before it all even began. To manage his workload, the seamer has not been thrown into this contest despite the importance of it all.
“You want him to be playing as many games as possible because he is a match winner. But it is a tough one because he has a unique bowling style. He puts more stress on his body than other fast bowlers,”
said McGrath, the director of the MRF Pace Foundation.
“In Australia, whenever Bumrah played, the matches were tight. But unfortunately, when he played backto-back matches, he had injury concerns. A lot of it depends on the captain and hierarchy and more so him (Bumrah), what he feels he can do,” McGrath added.
“You want your best bowler bowling (for long) and him wanting to bowl as well. If Bumrah bowls in short spells, the batting team can just get through those three-four overs. India need another group of fast bowlers coming through to ensure Bumrah does not have to bowl long spells. India need other bowlers who can equally carry the workload.”
“It is important for a fast bowler to have an off-season. If you just keep playing year in, year out, things (injuries) will happen. That is the nature of the beast. Good bowling action, good genetics and good work off the field are needed to get strong. There may be a freak who can bowl all day every day, but 99.9% of the fast bowlers need an off-season.”