With quality performances across all formats of the game, Jasprit Bumrah has already become the leader of Team India’s pace attack ahead of his senior partners like Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami.
Bumrah has been playing consistent cricket for some time now and even skipper Virat Kohli has spoken many times about giving ideal rest to the fast bowling spearhead. The pacer played a key role during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia earlier this year, leading a very young and inexperienced pace attack for India.
In the home series against England, the pacer played three consecutive Tests before finally being rested in the last Test match and the limited-overs series. The last Test match for Bumrah was the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton.
Although the workload for the pacer has been managed well by the team management, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar believes that India needs to reduce the burden on Bumrah to prolong his career.
"His bowling is based on frontal action. Players with that action bowl with their backs and shoulder speed. We used to be side-on, and that is a compensation. Front action has no compensation and with that action, when the back blows out, you can’t escape it irrespective of how much you try," Akhtar said on Sports Tak.
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"I saw [Ian] Bishop’s back blowing out, Shane Bond’s back blowing out, and both has frontal actions. Bumrah now needs to think in this way, ‘I played a match, took an off, and go to rehab’. He needs to manage. If you play him every match, in one year, he will completely break down. Play him three matches out of five and take him out. Bumrah will have to manage this one thing if he wants to last forever," the former pacer added.
Critics believe that this is India’s best pace bowling attack touring England for a Test Series and if the visitors want to succeed in England, they will need to take care of their pace attack during the tour.
India will play a five-Test match series in England, starting August 4 at Trent Bridge.
(Inputs from Times Now)
