Jasprit Bumrah’s rare bowling action has made him one of the most dangerous fast bowlers in world cricket, but it has also placed enormous stress on his body. Former India pacer Raju Kulkarni believes that the ace seamer’s recurring injuries are closely linked to the strain created by his unorthodox action, and has urged the team management to protect him more carefully by limiting his workload, ideally to Test cricket alone.
Kulkarni’s remarks come at a time when Bumrah has once again been forced out of action. The India pace spearhead was initially named in the squad for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka, subject to fitness, but was later ruled out after failing to recover fully from the impact injury to his left knee that he suffered while fielding during the second ODI against England in Cardiff in July.
According to the BCCI, the injury caused reactive swelling and kept Bumrah out of the third ODI as well. With his recovery not progressing quickly enough, he was ultimately unavailable for the Sri Lanka tour. Raju Kulkarni, who played three Tests and 10 ODIs between 1983 and 1987, described Bumrah as India’s finest fast bowler but said his action may be contributing to the repeated setbacks.
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“Bumrah’s our golden boy. He’s India’s best ever fast bowler. But I think he’s not a technically sound bowler, which is why he’s so injury-prone. Bowlers like Richard Hadlee or Kapil Dev were technically sound and that’s why they kept going,” Kulkarni was quoted as saying by mid-day.
“பும்ராவின் பந்துவீச்சு டெக்னிகலாக சரியில்லை அதனால்தான்..”.. முன்னாள் வீரர் ராஜு குல்கர்னி சர்ச்சைhttps://t.co/StHNs1vWbS#INDvsSL #JaspritBumrah #IndianCricketTeam #TestCricket #பும்ரா #TamilMK pic.twitter.com/S9gilc1RuY
— myKhel Tamil (@MykhelTamil) August 7, 2026
He also questioned whether Bumrah can realistically handle the demands of all three formats over a long period. “I don’t think Bumrah can sustain playing all formats. The team management must consider playing him only in Tests as that’s a critical format. Though he may want to play IPL, T20Is and ODIs too, it’s not viable,” he said.
Kulkarni suggested that India should build a stronger pace-bowling structure around Mohammed Siraj, with experienced names like Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar returning to share the load.
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“For this reason, it will be great if Mohammed Siraj can get the support of senior pacers like Shami and Bhuvi. Bhuvi should be used in T20Is because he’s done brilliantly in the IPL. And you can rotate Shami and Siraj in Tests. This will reduce the pressure on Bumrah,” Raju Kulkarni added.
Bumrah’s fitness issues have repeatedly interrupted a remarkable career, including a long spell on the sidelines because of a back stress injury in 2022-23. Yet his Test record remains extraordinary, with 234 wickets at an average of 19.79 from 52 matches. For India, managing their premier fast bowler may now be as important as selecting him.
