The former India batter spoke in detail about his conversation with Zaheer Khan during a discussion over Jasprit Bumrah’s back injury.
On Thursday, it was reported that Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a ‘back stress fracture’ – a development that caused panic among the Indian cricket fraternity. Widely regarded as one of the most dangerous bowlers in modern-day cricket, Bumrah had been the leading pacer in Indian team over the past few years, and his absence would come as a severe blow to India’s chances at the World Cup in Australia; the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team is already without Ravindra Jadeja in the tournament.
Bumrah’s workload management has been one of the top-most priorities for the Indian team management over the years; since Team India’s return to the action after the 2022 Indian Premier League, Bumrah has played in merely 3 T20Is – the side had played 24 so far. The 28-year-old pacer only featured in a game against England and two T20Is against Australia; he was also named in the squad for India’s last series in the shortest format against South Africa but withdrew from the first game earlier this week citing back spasm.
Following the lengthy break and the injury to Bumrah, former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer, in a discussion on ESPNCricinfo, was asked whether a break can affect fast bowler’s rhythm and make him injury prone. Jaffer, in his response, recalled his conversation with former India pacer Zaheer Khan.
“Absolutely. I’ve spoken to Zaheer as I’m pretty close to him. When he played for Worcestershire, he played literally four months of non-stop cricket. That’s how Zaheer Khan’s resurgence happened, post the 2006 season. That’s what he told me, if he plays consistently and bowls a lot of overs, he feels in rhythm and his body feels good. The moment he feels there’s a break, it takes him a while to get back to shape again,” Jaffer said.
“Most bowlers want it that way. If they are on the field, they are playing, there are raring to go. The moment a break happens, you have to start over. That’s why, I’m pretty sure Bumrah probably pushed himself to be ready for the T20 World Cup,” said the former India opener.
While there is no official communication over the extent of Bumrah’s injury and whether or not he will be flying with the Indian team to Australia for the T20 World Cup, news agency PTI had reported that it could take him months to recover from the ‘stress fracture’.
