CHENNAI: Premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management has been a matter of intense discussion in Indian
cricket circles for a while now.
Given his sheer quality and the xfactor which he possesses, India have been wrapping Bumrah in cotton wool. As a result, India – opting to stick to their original plan of playing him in only three Tests during the England tour – had to field a XI sans the ace fast bowler at the Oval, in conditions where he could have proved to be a handful for England batters.
While India appear to be sorely missing Bumrah’s bag of tricks on a green top in the ongoing fifth Test, legendary Australian pacer Glenn McGrath is of the view that the men who matter have had to take “tough” decisions due to Bumrah’s unique qualities.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“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 here.
“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.
Asked if the Shubman Gill-led India could have managed Bumrah better by reducing the volume of overs in the matches that he played, McGrath said, “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.”
McGrath insisted that pacers like Bumrah will continue to suffer bumps in the road if they do not have a “proper off-season” that usually lasts two months. Since many India internationals play round the year, they hardly get time away from competitive cricket.
“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.”
‘Test cricket alive and well’The battles in India’s last two away tours – to Australia and England – have provided McGrath hope that Test cricket is still in a good state. “I felt that Test cricket was struggling a bit, but the two series (Australia-India and England-India) have shown that Test cricket is alive and well, especially in those countries,” McGrath said.
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