Limit Jasprit Bumrah to two consecutive games, says Bond: Former Mumbai Indians fast bowler coach Shane Bond reckons that Jasprit Bumrah’s career could come to an end early if he sustains another injury in his back in the same spot that he’s now had injuries twice.
Bumrah, the leading Test wicket-taker in 2024 and in the BGT 2024-25, suffered a back injury during the Sydney Test in January and has since missed all action, including the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which India won recently.
There’s been no official update on whether he will start in the IPL 2025, which begins on March 22, or whether he will miss the tournament partially or completely.
This is the second time that Bumrah has had a back injury in the same spot, having undergone surgery in 2023 already.
“They may say, look, it’s four Test matches in total. Or three. If we can get him through the English summer and he’s fit, we can probably then go with some confidence that we can carry him across the rest of the formats. So that’s hard because he is your best bowler, but if he has another injury in the same spot, that could be a career-ender, potentially, because I’m not sure you can have surgery on that spot again,” Bond told ESPNcricinfo.
Bond, whose career had halted due to back injuries, alluded to Bumrah’s upcoming schedule: the IPL 2025 will immediately be followed by a five-match Test series in England, which will be followed by the Asia Cup. The New Zealander reckons switching from T20 cricket to Test cricket is something that takes extra load on a fast bowler’s back.
“Looking at the tours and the schedule going forward, where are the opportunities to give him a break, but really, where are the danger periods? And often it is that the [transition from] IPL to the Test championship will be a risk. Anywhere you transition from particularly T20 to a Test match, it’s challenging,” Bond added.
Limit Jasprit Bumrah to two consecutive games: Bond
Bond suggested Team India not play Bumrah in more than two consecutive Test matches and to manage his workload even more carefully now that he’s been injured twice in the same spot in his back.
“He’s too valuable for the next World Cup and stuff. So you’d be looking at five Tests in England; I wouldn’t want to be playing him in any more than two in a row. Coming out of the back end of the IPL into a Test match is going to be a huge risk. And so how do they manage that is going to be key,” the former Kiwi speedster asserted.
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