Devil lies in action: What makes Jasprit Bumrah injury-prone - why his workload management is crucial

"Handle with care" -- this cliché is suitable for Jasprit Bumrah.

Fast bowling is cricket’s most thrilling craft, but also its most punishing. It takes a brutal toll on the body. For Bumrah, whose unorthodox action and heavy workload push physical limits, injuries have been less a risk and more an inevitability.



Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management sparked debate after he played only three of five Tests against England. Former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Sandeep Patil, and Dilip Vengsarkar have questioned the "workload management" and called it nonsense.

However, they have failed to understand that Bumrah’s issue isn’t fitness but the biomechanical strain of his unique action, which places heavy stress on his back despite his exceptional fitness.

Understanding Bumrah's action
Broadly, fast bowlers can be divided into two categories: knee dominant and hip dominant. Simply put, hip dominant bowlers, generally, apart from other factors, generate pace from the speed and momentum of their run-up and do not solely rely on muscle strength. On the other hand, knee dominant bowlers mainly generate pace from their muscle strength. Hip dominant bowlers thus also generally have a comparatively speedier run-up than knee dominant bowlers.

The knee dominant bowlers tend to have a side-on action; hip dominant bowlers more often have a front-on action. The best examples of knee dominant and hip dominant bowlers are Shaun Tait and Dale Steyn, respectively.


Bumrah is a hip dominant bowler with a front-on action. He does not have a very long or momentum-based run-up to help him build force while approaching the wicket.

Bumrah starts with a few steps of walking and then a stuttered short run-up, almost like he is hesitant to run towards the wicket. So he does not have much momentum while approaching the bowling crease, which is unusual for a fast bowler. This means he does not depend on his run-up to generate pace. He generates most of the pace and force in his bowling through an impulse step, a braced front leg, arm rotation, a hyper-extended elbow, and a ridiculously flexible wrist.

While delivering the ball, Bumrah also has a significant degree of trunk lateral flexion, which means he releases the ball outside the line of the front foot. In simple words, he bends his upper body towards the left side more than others.

While all these factors make Bumrah the lethal and deceptive bowler he is, they also put enormous pressure on his back, much more than most other elite fast bowlers in world cricket. Consequently, Bumrah's back is more vulnerable to injuries like stress fractures than many others.

Bowling bio-mechanical experts and even some former cricketers had warned about this in the early stages of Bumrah's international career.

"Bumrah tends to release the ball outside the line of the front foot. This means he can 'push' at the ball, usually resulting in an excellent in-swing delivery to a right-hand batter.

"However, if he exceeds 45 degrees of trunk lateral flexion (which he may on some occasions), then this element of his action may pose some injury concerns to his lumbar vertebrae," read a study conducted on Bumrah's action by Deakin University's sports team in Victoria, Australia, in 2019.

And all these warnings came true as Bumrah suffered injury after injury, which has kept him out of action for more than a year over the last half a decade. Since his 2018 Test debut, Jasprit Bumrah’s career has been marred by recurring back injuries, starting with a stress fracture in 2019. The issue resurfaced in 2022, forcing him to miss major tournaments and undergo surgery in 2023. Earlier this year, back spasms sidelined him again, causing another four-month layoff and missed marquee events.

Numbers don't lie

Format / Series	Player	Overs Bowled	Matches	Wickets
Overall since Dec 2023	Jasprit Bumrah	513.2 (Tests)	18	91
	Jasprit Bumrah	128.5 (ODIs)	17	28
	Jasprit Bumrah	37.4 (T20Is)	10	19
	Jasprit Bumrah	99.1 (IPL)	25	38
2018-19 BGT (Australia)	Jasprit Bumrah	157.0	4	21
	Mohammad Shami	136.4	4	16
	Ishant Sharma	103.0	3	11
	Umesh Yadav	37.0	1	2
2024-25 BGT (Australia)	Mohammed Siraj	157.1	5	20
	Jasprit Bumrah	151.2	4.5	32
	Akash Deep	77.5	2	5
	Harshit Rana	45.0	2	4
	Nitish Kumar Reddy	44.0	5	5

Bumrah has bowled 513.2 overs in Tests since December 2023, after he came back from the injury and subsequent surgery. And these numbers are only in Tests. Add to this 128.5 overs in ODIs, 37.4 overs in T20Is, and another 99.1 overs in the IPL. That's a lot of overs, and the fact that it came after surgery to his back makes it even more worrisome.

Let's take the example of two Test series Bumrah played in Australia before and after the surgery. In the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Australia, which was Bumrah's first Down Under and third overall, he bowled 157 overs across 4 Tests. In the 2024-25 BGT, Bumrah sent down 151.2 overs in 4 and a half Tests—he left the field during the fifth and final Test after suffering back spasms.

One more set of numbers should make the picture clearer. In the 2018-19 BGT, Bumrah was part of the best fast bowling unit ever assembled in Indian cricket history. While Bumrah took 21 wickets in 4 Tests, Mohammad Shami bowled 136.4 overs in 4 Tests and took 16 wickets. Ishant Sharma played 3 Tests, sent down 103 overs while taking 11 wickets. In the one Test match he played, Umesh Yadav bowled 37 overs.

Now look at the 2024-25 BGT numbers. In the five Tests (four and a half), Bumrah delivered 151.2 overs, taking 32 wickets. In the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, he sent down 53.2 overs and at one point told Rohit: "Bas abhi. Nahi lag raha hai zor." [Enough now. I'm not able to push more]. The only line of support Bumrah had was Mohammed Siraj, who bowled 157.1 overs across five Tests and took 20 wickets. No other bowler took more than 6 wickets in the series.

The only other seamers to bowl even 40 overs were Akash Deep (77.5 overs in 2 Tests, 5 wickets) and Harshit Rana (45 overs in 2 Tests, 4 wickets). The rest of the bowling attack made little impact. Nitish Kumar Reddy, chosen as the seam-bowling all-rounder, delivered only 44 overs in the series and claimed five wickets. As a result, Bumrah, already no stranger to injuries, was relied on more often to shift the game’s momentum, leaving him with shorter recovery periods between spells. This workload took a toll on his body.

In the recently-concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, India played a fast bowler short in all five Tests to minimise the number of tail-enders, which in turn meant that Bumrah, along with Siraj, had to do the majority of the heavy lifting. Bumrah played three out of five Tests, and in the five innings in which he bowled, the ace pacer sent down 119.4 overs -- that's 30 overs per innings.

Since 2024, Bumrah has bowled a total of 2,920 balls. So the point is not only how many Tests Bumrah plays, but also how many overs he delivers in those matches. And when you look at the numbers, Bumrah is clearly over bowled.

Let Bumrah choose his battles

Almost eight years into his Test career, Bumrah has already suffered three back injuries, including two stress fractures. He is also 31 and not getting any younger. It is also a fact that once a body part gets injured, not only is it more susceptible to future injuries, but also harder to recover from those injuries.

Jasprit Bumrah is the finest and most skillful bowler that India has ever produced. He can bowl with the new ball and with the older one, whose bouncers and yorkers are as sharp and lethal as his length balls are deceptive. He can run through the opposition batting and turn the game on its head. To borrow a phrase from Peter Drury: "He is an awesome force of nature."

Jasprit Bumrah is a rare combination of pace, precision, and perfection — something the world has seldom witnessed.

While fans and former cricketers naturally want to see Bumrah in every match, we must remember that overplaying him risks compromising the very impact he brings.

He is like a fighter jet capable of single-handedly turning the tide of battle. Let him choose his battles. He is a priceless work of art, handle with care and caution, or risk watching him fall apart.

Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!