Hour of need! Jasprit Bumrah's injury a further reminder of workload management
Jasprit Bumrah's body has finally answered and he has been ruled out of the Test series against South Africa due to a minor stress fracture.
With Jasprit Bumrah's injury, India are now at a stage that they saw long-time coming. His exclusion from the South Africa series might just be a precautionary measure but with it now, comes the added responsibility of managing his workload even more carefully.
Since his debut in 2016, Bumrah has played for India regularly in the limited-overs format and following his Test debut in South Africa last year, his assignments have doubled. However, the Gujarat pacer somehow managed to stay fit and perform consistently but his action remained a question and finally, his body has answered.
The 25-year-old has sustained a minor stress fracture and it came into the forefront during a routine radiological screening but with India's worse fears coming true, the need for further assessment in matters of workload management needs to be revisited.
Bumrah, who was rested for the limited-overs tour of West Indies and South Africa T20Is as well, will now undergo rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and be monitored by the BCCI medical team. The reason to not play him or even allow to practice with the team is surely a precautionary measure as losing a player of Bumrah's calibre can do India more harm in the long run but his action will forever keep him at the edge.
Bumrah's awkward yet effective action has raised questions but it his action that makes him lethal and perhaps the most "complete" bowler in the world as captain Virat Kohli would attest. He has a short run-up but is quick and that makes him vulnerable to back problems due to excessive pressure on his back. And, when he goes for those yorkers, a weapon that he has used to great effect, it pushes him towards an injury a tad further.
But, it is what it is and that is what makes Bumrah the currently ranked No. 3 in the ICC Test bowling rankings and No. 1 in ODIs. Since his Test debut in Cape Town, he has managed to play 12 Tests, 27 ODIs and 10 T20Is. Along with his international assignments, came 30 matches for the Mumbai Indians across two seasons. A total of 79 games in less than two years but he managed to be fit and resilient, this, raising expectations of staying injury free despite being on the edge. Since Jan 5, 2018, he has missed a Test series only the second time. The other instance was when he miss the first two Tests against England last year.
And, now, after a year, despite being 'carefully' managed, his body has answered and India look a shade lighter going into a Test series against the Proteas. Bumrah has picked five-wicket hauls in all the tours he has been on — in England, New Zealand, Australia and the West Indies and so far has 62 wickets at an average of 19.24 in the longest format of the game. Since his debut, he has picked up 42 wickets in six wins for his country with Ishant Sharma coming second with 28 from 7 games while Mohammed Shami is third with 27.
Figures of that stature need some replacing and while India have included Umesh Yadav in the squad, Bumrah's ability to strike at will thoroughly be missed. The only silver lining to the situation could be the series being in India and a fresher Bumrah in the upcoming assignments in the following year. With home series against West Indies and Bangladesh coming up, India could afford the luxury of resting their main weapon ahead of overseas tours to New Zealand and Australia (World T20) next year.
But, the injury will be a timely reminder for both the team management and Bumrah himself regarding an issue that would probably never go away as long as he is playing