Bumrah is too precious to be treated like any other cricketer

The emergence of Jasprit Bumrah as the top fast bowler in the world has been the most fascinating development in Indian cricket during the last decade. The sight of an Indian speedster who could spell terror in the ranks of opposing sides and pick up wickets at will whenever he had the cricket ball in hand was something that old timers would not even dare to dream, given the fact that the country could not produce even a single fast bowler during the first three decades after independence. It was only with the emergence of Kapil Dev in the late 1970’s and the likes of Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan in the decades that followed that the long wait of followers of the sport for a quality pace bowler was addressed.

While the fast bowlers mentioned above had successful careers in international cricket with each one taking more than 500 wickets, none of them could boast of coming close to Bumrah in wicket-taking prowess at this level. A cursory look at the strike rate of these bowlers shows the manner in which Bumrah towers head and shoulders above all of them in this critical aspect. While the other have a strike rate exceeding 60 in Test cricket, which indicates that a wicket came their way in 60 to 64 balls, Bumrah’s strike rate is 42.8. In other words, Bumrah is almost 30% more effective than the others. Amongst bowlers who have taken more than 200 wickets in Test matches, only Kagiso Rabada (SR 39.87) of South Africa has a better strike rate than Bumrah.

Further, Bumrah is also an all format bowler with impressive performances in One Day cricket and T20 Internationals as well. His bowling averages (the number of runs given away per wicket taken ) of 19.79 (tests), 23.74 (ODI) and 18.08 (T20 Internationals) tell the story of a bowler who is not only difficult to score off but also given respect by the batsmen. Bumrah is the first bowler in test history to pick up 200 wickets with a bowling average below 20. 

The above statistical data makes it clear that Bumrah is undoubtedly the most destructive fast bowler in contemporary cricket. Bumrah is a complete package as a fast bowler- the sheer speed at which he delivers the ball, his unorthodox sling action and an uncanny ability to hit the blockhole at will make him a deadly proposition for the willow wielders. He has all the stock weapons of a fast bowler in his armoury, including a mean bouncer and a sly slower one, in addition to the ability to use the reverse swing to his advantage. He has a short run up for a speedster, but makes up for this by the power of his shoulders, the perfect alignment of his torso and his limbs and the height from which he delivers the ball, all of which together help him clock speeds in excess of 145 kilometres per hour on a consistent basis.

Unfortunately, Bumrah has suffered more than a fair share of injuries during his career. This is not unusual as fast bowlers who depend on their shoulder for generating pace are prone to suffer from injuries to their back. In addition, the angle at which he lands after delivering the ball makes him more susceptible to injuries to his lower spine. But Bumrah is singularly unfortunate in that he is more prone to injuries than other fast bowlers, as can be seen from the number of occasions he missed being part of international cricket on this score.

The first injury that Bumrah suffered was a fracture of his left thumb during the T20 International against Ireland in 2018. However, he recovered within a span of three weeks and played in the last three tests of the series against England that followed. This was followed by a stress fracture to his back when India toured West Indies in 2019. This was a more serious proposition and forced him out of the game to take treatment in UK. He was out of action for many months and returned to the national squad only during the home series against New Zealand in early 2020. During India’s tour to Australia in 2020-21, Bumrah missed the last match of the keenly fought test series due to an abdominal muscle tear. Luckily, this was not serious and he was back in the squad when the national side took the field in the first test of the home series against England in early 2021.

But a more serious injury surfaced soon afterwards when Bumrah went down with “back spasms” in August 2022. But it was later found that the real cause of the pain was a stress fracture to his spine, and he had to undergo a prolonged period of rehabilitation following surgery during the latter part of 2022 and the first half of 2023. But he recovered completely and was the spearhead of the Indian attack during the ICC World Cup of 2023 and the ICC T20 World Cups of 2024 and 2026.

Bumrah was the star of the series for India when the side toured Australia in 2024-25. Forced to lead the side in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, he led the side to a facile 295-run win in the first test, where he picked up 8 wickets. He was at his best during the next three Tests where he scalped 22 batsmen but this effort led to a recurrence of his back injury and he was forced to leave the field after bowling only 10 overs in the last game. It was only due to Bumrah’s brilliance that India was able to return from Australia with their heads held high, despite losing the series 1-3.

The spate of injuries suffered by Bumrah brought forth the issue of managing his workload, forcing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take a decision to utilise his services only for more important matches. This was implemented with some success during the tour to England in 2025, where he played only in three of the five tests. But this is not an easy proposition to implement at the field level as he still remains the main wicket taker for the side. 

Bumrah’s tryst with injuries has continued during the current year also as he was forced to sit out after the second game in the One Day International series played in England. It was revealed that he suffered an injury to his knee, which would force him to miss the two-Test series against Sri Lanka later this month. The extent of his injury and the period required for recovery and rehabilitation have not yet been placed in the public domain.

In the midst of all this, one was surprised to see Bumrah play 13 matches for Mumbai Indians (MI) during this IPL season. This was Bumrah’s worst IPL to date as he managed to pick only 4 wickets at an average of 102 runs per wicket. His strike rate and economy too fell as average batsmen started taking him to the cleaners. It was obvious to all that he was performing below par. Later, it was revealed by Mahela Jayawardene, the coach of MI, that Bumrah was carrying an injury when the championship started, which explained his colourless show in the matches. This brings forth the question as to why Bumrah was made to play in IPL if he was not fully fit. It emerges that he underwent a medical examination at the Centre of Excellence run by BCCI at Bengaluru before the start of IPL and was pronounced fit. This complicates the matter further as it shows the complicity on the part of BCCI as well in issuing him a clean chit when he was not fully fit. 

As the spearhead of the Indian attack in all three formats of the game, there is a huge workload on Bumrah’s shoulders. The physical demands of playing in all formats bring added strain on the muscles of his back and increase stress on his lower spine, which is the proverbial “Achilles heel” of this great performer. To prevent this, it is imperative that the Indian team management and owners of Mumbai Indians put their heads together to chalk out a schedule to utilise his services in an optimum manner. Unfortunately, this has not been done, with the result that Bumrah finds himself sitting on the sidelines while the national side plays an important series which will probably decide whether the country reaches the knockout phase of World Test Championship. With the benefit of hindsight one can state that it would have been far better if he was out in the middle playing in the tests in Sri Lanka rather than turning out for MI in IPL.

Even at this juncture it makes immense sense to place Bumrah in a tight fitness regime under the supervision of the best coaching and medical advice available in the country to help preserve his services during the years ahead. He is 32 years old at present and has, at best, another three to four years of top level cricket left in him. With proper workload management and supportive medical care he will be able to retain top fitness levels and match winning abilities during this period. The objective must be to ensure that he leads the attack of the country in all important matches and tournaments without fail.

It is high time that BCCI and MI realise the true worth of Bumrah and his value to Indian cricket. Not even the Almighty will forgive these entities if the career of the best fast bowler to emerge from the country is allowed to wither away early on account of negligence and foolhardiness.