Jasprit Bumrah will go down as one of India's greatest-ever bowlers but apart from his unmatched performances on the field, his injuries have limited his time on the field.
The Indian pacer's awkward bowling action has contributed to recurring back issues in the past, but Bumrah has been India's most reliable bowling option whenever he's played.
After suffering a long-term stress fracture, the bowler was out for a substantial period between 2022 and 2023. He recovered just in time before the 2023 World Cup in India but the same issues have followed him since then.
📲 Follow The Sporting News India on WhatsApp
After being in action for over a year, Bumrah once again faced a problem in early 2025 during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia. He was ruled out of the final Test in that series and the Champions Trophy campaign while also missing early matches of IPL 2025 season.
In the ongoing Test series against England, management declared that they would carefully manage Bumrah's workload. As a result, head coach Gautam Gambhir revealed that the star pacer would only play three out of the five matches in the series.
India's former strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai weighed in on the topic. He suggested creating a special team for Bumrah, focusing on his needs and challenges.
READ MORE: Who is 17 year old Farhan Ahmed? Rehan Ahmed's brother shines with a hattrick
How can India manage Bumrah's workload efficiently?
Desai has worked with India's star bowler Bumrah for over a decade, starting with the speedster's debut for his state side, Gujarat.
In his interview with the Indian Express, Desai praised how the Indian bowler has worked hard behind the scenes to reach the unprecedented level for a fast bowler, suggesting a long-term vision of a special team around him.
"He is special, a gifted guy who has worked immensely to become one of a kind. To manage guys like him, we need a cohesive, collective and collaborative approach with a long-term vision driving the decisions, and ideally with great consistency in personnel around him," he said.
READ MORE: Where to watch IND W vs ENG W 2nd ODI in India?
Desai compares Bumrah's case to Pat Cummins' injury-prone past
The former Indian coach compared Bumrah to his contemporary from Australia, Pat Cummins. The Aussie quick also had a stop-start career in the initial years of his career before becoming one of the best bowlers in world cricket.
Nowadays, Cummins bowls long spells in Test cricket and is also playing T20 leagues around the world, like the IPL. This was not the case during his injury-prone days.
Cummins has now also won the World Test Championship and the World Cup with Australia while rarely missing a game.
According to Desai, a similar approach of having a dedicated team around the Indian ace-pacer will help India have his services for the long term.
"One guy, one team, one approach, one vision working through years. A similar thing happened with Pat Cummins. He faced several setbacks at the start of his career. Then he was pulled back, and one set of professionals worked on him for 2-4 seasons."
"Bumrah is an asset and needs to be handled smartly. A small team needs to handle him, prepare him for surgical strikes a few times a year and be smart around him at other times," Desai added.
What is Jasprit Bumrah's injury record?
Bumrah has previously sustained two stress fractures in 2019 and 2022, eventually missing the T20 World Cup in Australia.
He had also once suffered a thumb fracture while trying to catch a ball in the Ireland series in 2018, which ruled him out of the upcoming Tests vs England.
Below is the list of the injuries suffered by the world number 1 bowler in his international career.
- Thumb injury - 2018 vs Ireland
- Lower-back stress fracture - 2019 tour of the West Indies
- Abdominal Strain - 2020/21 tour of Australia
- Back stress fracture - Ahead of the 2022 Asia Cup
- Back injury - 2024/25 tour of Australia.
MORE: Which Indian batters have scored a Test century at Old Trafford in Manchester?