The back injury to Indian pacer, Jasprit Bumrah has been one of the reasons behind India’s chances to win two trophies (Asia Cup and T20 World Cup) in 2022. In both tournaments, India failed to make it to the final, with Rohit Sharma and his men getting knocked out after a 10-wicket defeat to England in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. He has not been included in the squad for the first two Tests against Australia but captain Rohit Sharma is hopeful that he will be coming back for the remaining two games.
Australia fast bowling great Jeff Thomson has said that Bumrah may have to take a call on whether he wants to prioritize limited overs cricket or Tests so as to prolong his career. He said that he understands players, particularly fast bowlers, need to take rest as they have to play all year long in multiple formats, unlike what was the case back in his heydays.
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During a chat with Revsportz, Jeff Thomson said, “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.”
He further added, “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.”
Jeff Thomson acknowledged that it would have been difficult for him to play Test cricket considering the shorter formats can help him prolong his career while earning a good amount of money.
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Explaining the same, Jeff Thompson said, “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. The only one who is going to look after you is yourself. 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.”
Jeff Thomson said that regardless of what decision Bumrah makes, his standing as a great bowler lies in the fact that he will attract crowds regardless of what format he plays in.
