Former Latest Zealand pacer and ex-Mumbai Indians (MI) bowling coach Shane Bond said that one other injury at the identical spot where Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah had his surgery could possibly be a career-ender and added that in future, he wouldn’t wish to see him play greater than two Test matches in a single go, ESPNCricinfo reported. Bumrah has been nursing a lower back injury, which ruled him out of India’s famous run to Champions Trophy victory on Sunday. The bowler who has been branded as a “national treasure” by star batter Virat Kohli, fought a lone battle for India through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, taking 32 wickets in five matches, before breaking down in the ultimate Test match at Sydney earlier this yr in January, suffering what turned out to be a stress-related injury.
He has not played any competitive cricket since then and in addition missed India’s victorious ICC Champions Trophy campaign.
Bumrah is completing his rehab at Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and there is no such thing as a clarity over his availability for Mumbai Indians (MI) through the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) ranging from March 22 onwards.
Bumrah has not suffered a back injury for the primary time, as he had surgery for it in March 2023. Bond, who worked with MI previously as a bowling coach and is currently Rajasthan Royals’ bowling coach, said that Bumrah’s workload needs careful management to avoid one other injury.
Bond can be notably known for having a back-injury-affected profession himself. He played just 120 matches and picked 259 scalps for Kiwis from 2001-10. Like Bumrah, he had his first back surgery at 29. Despite his persistent injuries, Bond played till the age of 34, first retiring from Tests, then from all formats inside lower than six months.
Talking to ESPNCricinfo about Bumrah, he said, “When he went off for scans, it was at Sydney, there was some messaging coming up around that he had sprains and stuff like that. I nervous that it was not going to be a sprain, it may be a bony injury around that area [the back]. I assumed he may struggle to make the Champions Trophy if it was.”
Bond highlighted that the danger zone lies in the short transition from T20 to Test cricket. The previous pacer highlighted it as a challenge as India prepares for the England tour of 5 Test matches, barely a month after the IPL ends on May 25.
“Look, I believe Booms might be nice, but it surely is just that [workload] management [matters],” Bond said.
” the tours and the schedule going forward, where are the opportunities to offer him a break, but really where are the danger periods? And sometimes it’s that the [transition from] IPL to the Test championship might be a risk.”
“Anywhere you transition from, particularly T20 to a Test match, it’s difficult. Should you are playing a one-day series, it is usually not too bad. You’ll play three games every week, you’ll have a practice, you’re form of in around that 40 overs [range], that’s pretty near a Test match week anyway. But in T20, particularly within the IPL, while you may be playing three games in every week, there are two days of travel, you may get one training [session], you’re form of bowling 20 overs perhaps in the event you are lucky. That is form of half of a Test match load and even under a half of, which then is an enormous jump and also you will not be bowling back-to-back days. That could be a big jump while you transition out of that,” he concluded his point.
India’s tour to England might be a good one, with five Tests between June 28 to August 3. Bond said that India shouldn’t give Bumrah the workload he endured on the Australia tour, bowling a complete of 151.2 overs, including 52 through the fourth Test, a Boxing Day game at Melbourne, his most in a Test match.
“He is just too priceless for the subsequent World Cup and stuff. So that you could be taking a look at five Tests in England, I might not wish to be playing him in any greater than two in a row. Coming out of the back end of the IPL right into a Test match goes to be an enormous risk. And so how do they manage that’s going to be key.”
“They might say, look, it’s 4 Test matches in total. Or three. If we will get him through the English summer and he’s fit, we will probably then go along with some confidence that we will carry him across the remainder of the formats. In order that is difficult because he’s your best bowler, but when he has one other injury in the identical spot, that could possibly be a career-ender, potentially, because I’m undecided you may have surgery on that spot again.”
With Indian domestic season over, IPL is the one competitive cricket Bumrah can play before England tour. Bond feels IPL is “perhaps touch and go” for Bumrah and “there might be a component of risk depending on the intensity that he’s bowling at by the point he gets back”.
Bond said that it’s Bumrah’s responsibility to work with the decision-makers in Indian cricket to plan a protected path that may help him secure longevity. “So it’s going to take some good management and just a few open conversations with the player and say, look, we’re doing this together with your best interest in your profession. Any player who has passed through that, and having myself [gone through it], you’re eager to play, but you furthermore mght understand there are some risks at certain times and you could have to make some compromises.”
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