India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s “demanding action” and “high pace” put a lot of pressure on his body, and managing his workload is necessary to keep him match fit, said former India cricketer Robin Uthappa. However, Bumrah was rested for the three-match ODI series against South Africa and returned for the five-match T20I series as well.

“He is an absolute match-winner, and managing his workload is crucial. Fast bowling is probably the toughest skill in the sport, and Bumrah does it at high pace with a demanding action.” said Uthappa on JioStar’s ‘Cricket Live’. “You want to protect that, but at the same time, you want him to play enough cricket. We’ve seen glimpses of his brilliance, and hopefully he can build consistency over the next few games heading into the World Cup.”

Meanwhile, the fourth T20I here was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Wednesday due to smog, and the final match of the series in Ahmedabad on Friday became a must-win for South Africa to level the series as well. However, Uthappa stated that while South Africa have been very competitive, inconsistency has let them down in the series as well.

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“South Africa have played very competitively, but they’ve been a bit hot and cold in the T20I series. That said, it has still been very entertaining. I thought they bowled really well, while their batting has been a little inconsistent. It’s going to be an interesting contest (in Ahmedabad) because they will want to level the series. Overall, they’ve had a great tour. They dominated the Test series (2-0) and were competitive in the white-ball formats as well. India came back strongly, but South Africa will want to win the next one and head home with their heads held high,” again said Uthappa.

Meanwhile, former South African pacer Dale Steyn said that his team had “exceeded expectations” on their tour of India as well.

“Winning the Test series was outstanding, and they were very competitive in the ODIs. They might feel they let the first ODI slip after winning the toss and losing early wickets while chasing. Had they won that, they could have finished the ODI series 2–1,” said Steyn.

“Out of the three T20Is so far, India have been the better team. They bowled South Africa out cheaply in one game, conceded runs in another, but then dominated again in Dharamshala. If India win the series, I would say well played — they would deserve it. But I’m hoping South Africa turn it around. They’ve had a wonderful tour,” he again said.

He also acknowledged that Abhishek Sharma’s batting, especially his cover drive, was a treat to watch as well.

“Abhishek Sharma hits a lot of sixes and plays fearless shots, but I personally enjoy watching a classical cover drive or someone walking down the wicket and hitting straight back over the top. When Gill gets going, it’s great to watch. I remember Shubman Gill scoring heavily against SRH when I was the bowling coach there. He played beautifully. Even when you’re on the losing side, you enjoy watching someone like him bat. He makes it look very easy — elegant and pleasing on the eye,” said Steyn.