IND vs ENG: Limiting Jasprit Bumrah's playing time part of plan to protect him from further injury and help him extend career

Indian Express

6 days ago

Though the decision to not play Jasprit Bumrah in the fifth and final Test at The Oval with the series on the line raised eyebrows, The Indian Express understands that given the pacer's injury history, the team management is unanimous that he should be protected from further setbacks and giving adequate rest in between assignments would be the way forward.
Sources in the Indian cricket board have affirmed that it is not a case of Bumrah 'picking and choosing' matches he wants to play, but rather a common decision arrived at to allow the star pacer to extend his playing career as long as possible.
As mentioned by chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar while announcing the squad for the England Test sojourn, Bumrah was available to play only three Tests on the tour. Even head coach Gautam Gambhir reiterated in the middle of the series that Bumrah won't be fielded in more than three games irrespective of how the series was placed. And after playing the fourth Test in Manchester – his third of the series – Bumrah was rested for the decider at The Oval and the BCCI even released him from the squad.
With India not having any playing assignment till the Asia Cup next month, Bumrah has an extended break to recover after the long tour. Even with regards to his participation in the continental tournament, a call will be taken purely based on the inputs provided by BCCI's medical team, which continues to keep a close tab on the premier pacer's workload.
The Indian Express understands that the priority of the team management is to have Bumrah available for important tournaments, in particular ICC events. While the 31-year-old did undergo a back surgery earlier this year, it is reliably understood that given this long standing issue, the medical team has advised Bumrah to tread cautiously as there is a strong chance of the injury resurfacing. Given the risk involved, the decision-makers are averse to the idea of pushing him to play more and would rather have him fit and firing in the matches he does play.
India are scheduled to play only four more Tests till the end of this season, which also includes a T20 World Cup on home soil. With the tournament being the top priority for the defending champions, the team management prefers to protect Bumrah and keep him fresh for the marquee event as against making him play every fixture. Moreover, that the rest of the pace attack stepped up creditably in the two Tests that Bumrah didn't play in the England series has only encouraged the team management's plan to judiciously use the pacer whose last two overs in the T20 World Cup final helped India end a long drought in terms of ICC silverware.
Despite his injury concerns, Bumrah has also reiterated to the BCCI and the team management that he wants to play all three formats. 'There is a threshold for everyone and with Bumrah, it is a unique situation. It's not just the case of the bowling coach or the support staff seeing a red flag and resting him for a match. The medical staff is also involved and when a player like Bumrah – who can win games on his own – is available, everything is being done to protect him,' sources in the know told this paper.
After bowling his heart out during the last tour of Australia, Bumrah suffered a back injury before returning mid-way through the IPL. 'This is not a case of workload management. There is injury management also in place. He had already undergone a lengthy rehab process in the lead up to the 2023 World Cup. Ideally, everyone is working to not see a repeat because spending a long time in rehab in case of another injury won't be easy on him,' sources said.
Though he has suffered a career-threatening back injury, playing Test cricket is still part of Bumrah's plans, as he revealed in an interaction with Sky Sports before the England series.
'Whenever you play for India, you never think 'I'm not going to do this, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to protect myself.' But going further, you have to be smart. Sometimes when the workload goes really high, there's less time between Test matches, (and) it takes a lot out of a fast bowler. So coming to this series, yes, I've prepared really well. But I have to be smart as well because I'm not becoming younger by the day. So I have to keep an eye on my body, take care of my body because at the end of the day, I would love to play for longer. I'm still not done in my mind. So I have to be a little smart about my workload. I still want to contribute in all three formats. So I have to be a little smart in how I operate on things like that.' Bumrah had said.
As the pacer himself had revealed, it is due to this reason that he informed the BCCI not to consider him for any leadership role even before Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma quit Test cricket.
'Obviously, if I'm not careful, I don't know about the future. I don't want to be in a situation where, you know, abruptly I have to go away from this format. I come from a time where Test cricket was the pinnacle. And for me, this is the format that I grew up watching and I always judge myself through this format,' Bumrah had said.