Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has a piece of advice for Jasprit Bumrah for the longevity of his career. He believes the workload of Bumrah should be managed well unless he will break down in one year.
Bumrah is India’s spearhead after arriving in international cricket. He has been leading the pace battery for quite a while now and several cricket experts have applauded what he has done so far in his five-year playing career.
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However, he sustained a back injury in 2019 and since then his form has witnessed a dip. And Shoaib Akhtar feels his form will see more decline if Indian team management doesn’t take care of his workload.
“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.
“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.”
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He mentioned his own example. Akhtar mentioned how he urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to manage his workload as his body wasn’t able to go through a complete series.
“I kept telling Pakistan Cricket Board, ‘do not make me play all five matches. I am a three ODI fast bowler and my knees won’t allow it’. When I started my years in 1997, my knees couldn’t take the pressure. Whenever I played five matches, knees would get filled with water and my movement went away. I got tired of asking them to use me in three matches out of five but unfortunately, I had to manage this myself,” he pointed out.
Bumrah, currently, is gearing up for the five-match Test series against England, scheduled to get underway from August 4 in Nottingham.
