Indian bowlers, especially the pacers, are struggling with injuries lately and their workload management has become an utmost priority for the selectors and the team management.
Sharing his two cents on the same, Australian pace legend Jeff Thomson said fast bowlers have become so prone to injuries because they play all year round.
“There is so much cricket. They play all year round. We didn't do that. We used to play seasons, the summer season. Occasionally we would go to England for our winter. It was a long tour, four and a half months. But generally we just played the summer so we would gradually build up after Christmas full on. Because I knew I was going to get rest,” Thomson, who claimed 200 wickets in 51 Tests, said on Revsportz.
“Now, you can't do that. So you have to pace yourself to be around. That's why they have all those back up bowlers and they rest people. In our day we didn't rest. If we had a rest someone else would take our spot. It is a matter of having to rest these days because it is a 12-month a year job.”
India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah picked up a stress fracture on his lower back prior to the Asia Cup last year. On his return in the home T20Is against Australia, Bumrah went down again with the same injury, which ruled him out of the T20 World Cup 2022 and he is yet to regain complete fitness.
Thomson believes Bumrah may have to take a call on whether he wants to prioritise white-ball cricket or Tests so as to prolong his career.
“Well, (Bumrah) has to work out what he wants to play, short formats or Test matches or both. If I think about if I was playing now, it would be very hard for me to play Test matches. Especially, when you get so much money in the short version of the game which just makes your longevity better. We didn't have to think about money in our days because there was no money. Now it's a huge business. The only one who is going to look after you is yourself. So, you got to work out how long I am going to play for and how am I going to manage that because no one else is going to. I think you have to be more cunning these days in terms of workload and watch what you got to play. If you are good enough, they are going to pick you any way so you should be able to pull the strings,” he said.
Thomson further said that irrespective of Bumrah’s decision, he will continue to attract crowds in whatever format he plays.
“I think it is the crowd that decides that. They know how good he is. If he doesn't want to play Test cricket that is a bit of a blow but if he plays in a T20, they will turn up to watch him. What I am telling you is that if a guy limited himself to that, he is going to be playing for longer,” he remarked.
Notably, Bumrah hasn’t been picked for the first two Tests of the upcoming home series Australia, starting February 9 in Nagpur. However, he has started bowling in the nets, raising hopes of his participation in the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
