'He is on the borderline of a fracture': India may 'lose Bumrah' if Gambhir, Rohit refuse to learn from their mistake
Shane Bond has issued a word of caution to India as Jasprit Bumrah continues to recover from his injury.
The wait for Jasprit Bumrah's return continues. The India pacer, who last bowled in a competitive match in January, continues to be on the road to recovery, and while he is expected to make a comeback in the IPL 2025 for the Mumbai Indians, there's no fixed return date. Bumrah's excessive workload, coupled with his risky bowling action, has kept him away from action – so much so that the India pacer missed the all-important Champions Trophy. His absence wasn't felt as India lifted the trophy while remaining unbeaten, but the road ahead won't be as easy with opponents such as England waiting.
In 2023, the same injury took almost a year out of Bumrah's career. It's a whole different discussion that he returned more menacing and threatening than before, but the fact remains that Bumrah, with that action of his, will remain fragile and risk breaking down if not managed well. In Australia, he played all five Tests without a break, and India paid the price. But they can't inflict him through the same workload in England, reckons former New Zealand pacer Shane Bond, or else Bumrah it may be the endgame for Bumrah
"I don't think so. He had the [2023] surgery, but he played all that [Australia] Test series, performed unbelievably. At the end of the day, he just bowled too much over a one-month period. And it hasn't cracked, he hasn't got a fracture, he is on the borderline of a fracture," Bond, who worked closely with Bumrah at Mumbai Indians, told ESPNCricinfo.
"But what India would have learned is, if you then look at a five-Test match series in England and they do the same thing, they are probably going to get the same result. So you can't do that. You need a squad of bowlers where you can sort of pick and choose. Because if you lose him, you have got T20 World Cups, you've got 50-overs World Cups and he's an important member across all formats, IPL, all that sort of stuff."
'Bumrah will not be able to avoid injury'
As Bond pointed out, India went to Australia with a weakened pace-bowling attack. Mohammed Shami was yet to be fully fit, while Prasidh Krishna was returning after a long injury layoff himself. Akash Deep had played only a handful of Tests before and Mohammed Siraj lacked fire. In such a scenario, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the line, Bumrah was pushed, to the edge, to the extent that at the MCG Test, he ended up bowling 53.2 overs, more than he's ever bowled in a Test match.
"I suppose the lesson is, you can't have him bowl that many overs again in a Test match. Forty-five might be the top, and we can't risk it because he's too valuable. And I'm sure they have got all those things considered around the bowling loads and they would have reflected on why he's had that injury. He's a professional, Boomsy, he does everything right. All you are trying to do is prevent that… you are not going to avoid an injury, you are just trying to avoid the really bad ones, and I'm hoping he can avoid another one of these," added Bond.
