Bumrah’s workload needs to be managed well, says ex-SA all-rounder Philander
India’s Jasprit Bumrah reacts after dismissing Australia’s Nathan Lyon during the Melbourne Test in December last year. Pic/Getty Images
Former South Africa all-rounder Vernon Philander, 39, believes India’s star speedster Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management needs to be handled better. Bumrah, who bowled nearly 1,000 deliveries — 908 to be precise — during India’s recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series defeat in Australia, eventually broke down in the fifth Test.
Vernon Philander at St George’s Park. PIC/ASHWIN FERRO
‘Recovery is important’
According to Philander, workload management has become a key issue for fast bowlers with numerous franchise leagues springing up across the world. “Workload management is such a valuable topic. With games coming thick and fast, you have to make sure you look after your body. Recovery is massively important. Your fitness trainers and physios will have to guide the conversation in terms of what’s allowed for a particular player. There are leagues popping up everywhere, so bowlers want to play maximum tournaments, but at the end of the day, from a bowler’s perspective, you only have ‘x’ amount of balls in your body. And you want to make sure that you deliver those balls at the right time and at the right competition,” Philander said during a select media interaction on the sidelines of the SA20, where he is a commentator.
Too much load
Pacer Philander, who raced to 50 Test wickets in just seven matches, the second fastest to do so, before going on to play 64 Tests and picking up 224 wickets besides scoring 1,779 runs, felt that Bumrah is a phenomenal bowler with the skill set and ability to shift his pace up and down. “But it’s more about the Indian management, how they manage him. A guy like Bumrah… you want him to be playing all the key series and tournaments. So, they have to manage his workload in between these tournaments. Obviously, with the IPL coming up, you want a player like him to be available for most games, but therein lies the trick. How do you manage him throughout the IPL season, because there’s also plenty of games as an [India] player. If you look at the amount of games that India play over a calendar year, that load is massive.
So you perhaps want to look at playing him in all the main features and for your so-called lesser teams, you give other bowlers an opportunity. But it’s such a tough chat to be had, because as a bowler, you want to go out there and there are records to be broken, so you want to keep playing. Hopefully, India can get it right to manage a bowler like that. The Champions Trophy is coming up and this [workload management] is a massive talking point. I know [Kagiso] Rabada has been rested in the last week or so,” concluded Philander.
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