Shane Bond, a former speedster for New Zealand, revealed that he had foreseen Bumrah’s inability to make the Indian team for the 2025 Champions Trophy. He underlined that Bumrah may be vulnerable during the abrupt transition between the end of the forthcoming Indian Premier League and the five-match Test series against England.
For the past few months, Jasprit Bumrah has been absent from the cricket world. Following an outstanding performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–25, he suffered a back injury on the second day of the last Test, which kept him out of action for the following several weeks. Since the beginning of January, he has been absent.
“There was some reporting that he had sprains and other injuries when he went for scans, which were in Sydney. I was concerned that it might be a bone damage at that area [the back] rather than a sprain. If it was, I believed he could have trouble making the Champions Trophy.
That [workload] management [matters], but other than that, I believe Booms will be alright. Given the upcoming tours and schedule, where are the chances to offer him a reprieve, but where are the risky times? According to ESPNcricinfo, Bond stated, “And frequently, it is that the [transition from] IPL to the Test championship will be a risk.”
Moving on from that is a significant leap: Shane Bond
Shane Bond went into additional detail about the complexities of changing the focus from a preparing standpoint from a 50-over game to a Test match, as opposed going from T20Is to the game’s longest format. In June and early August, India will travel to England to play the red-ball series.
“It’s difficult to switch from a T20 match to a Test match anywhere. Generally speaking, it’s not too bad if you’re playing a one-day series. In any case, you will practice, play three games a week, and be in the 40-over range, which is fairly close to a Test match week.
Nevertheless, in T20, especially in the IPL, you may play three matches in a week, travel for two days, receive one training session, and, if you’re lucky, bowl 20 overs. That’s about half of a Test match load, or even less, so it’s a significant leap and you’re not bowling consecutive days. When you get out of that, it’s a huge leap,” he continued.
The most important thing for a player like Bumrah, according to Bond, who has been the bowling coach of the Mumbai Indians for a number of years, is open communication and workload management.
Saying to the player, ‘Look, we are doing this with your best interest in your career,’ and having some frank discussions with them will be necessary. Any athlete who has experienced that, including myself, is eager to play, but they also know that there are risks involved and that they must make some concessions.
“We can likely proceed with some assurance that we can carry him across the remaining formats if we can get him through the English summer and he’s healthy. That’s challenging because he is your best bowler, but if he sustains another injury in the same location, it might finish his career because I doubt you can have surgery there again,” he thought.
Bumrah may miss the first few weeks of the 2025 Indian Premier League, according to reports. The Mumbai Indians will be aiming for a speed bowling spearhead return as soon as possible.
India
