Jasprit Bumrah has taken provided an unprecedented dimension to the Indian pace attack, but he now runs the risk of being overbowled.
We can start this discussion under the assumption that Bumrah ranks among the greatest fast bowlers in the history of cricket. If one combines the three formats, it is difficult to question his stature as even the greatest of all time.
Consider the ongoing series. Bumrah bent the Perth Test to his own will and was just as magnificent at Brisbane, but ponder for a moment on the other matches. Across Adelaide and so far in Melbourne, he has 8-162 (including six wickets from the top six). That is eight wickets at 20.25.
Among 21st-century touring bowlers in Australia, only two have more wickets at a better average than Bumrah’s two “failures” in this series. To sum up, even if one considers only his less memorable performances, Bumrah still stands taller than the rest of the world. This is a bowler the kind of which the world has never seen.
However, as the series went on, another statistic came to light. The 28 overs he bowled in the first innings at Brisbane were his second-most since his debut year of 2018, after the 2020-21 Chennai Test match. He exceeded the Brisbane mark by four balls in the next Test, at Melbourne.
Two days into the Melbourne Test, he has already bowled 116.4 overs in the series. Another seven balls will make it the most for any series – once again, since 2018. Until stumps on day two at Melbourne, he has also bowled the most overs in this series across the two sides.
The ongoing year, 2024, is also when he has bowled the most overs (332.2) since 2018. And this is just in Test cricket, one of the three formats he plays in. India have been overusing the most destructive weapon in their arsenal.
How India used to handle Bumrah
An injury kept Bumrah out of nearly a year’s cricket, between September 2022 and August 2023. Perhaps keeping in mind the fact that Bumrah’s unusual action makes him prone to injuries, India had saved him from some of the sternest tests even before that.
Of Bumrah’s 30 Tests before the injury, 24 were in ‘SENA’ countries. Of his 73 ODIs, 54 were in bilateral series, but that included 40 against ‘SENA’ teams. For T20Is, the corresponding numbers read 62, 47, and 29.
That did not change after his comeback. True, he returned in Ireland, but that was a “trial run”. After that, his next assignments were the Asia Cup; the ODIs against Australia at home; the World Cup; the Test matches in South Africa and against England at home; and the T20 World Cup. Against England, India did not hesitate to rest him for the fourth Test despite the series being “live” at that point.
Between the T20 World Cup and the Australia tour, Bumrah played two Tests against each of Bangladesh and New Zealand. He bowled 90 overs across the four Tests. India did not stretch his workload even as they struggled against New Zealand, and rightly rested him for the “dead rubber” Test at Mumbai.
What has changed, and what should not have
In Australia, India were expected to play five Tests in six weeks – roughly the same as their itinerary against England at home. They could afford to rest Bumrah back then, where the spinners played their characteristic role. Not now, especially in the absence of Mohammed Shami.
To handle Bumrah’s workload, India’s best bet would have been to provide Bumrah with as much pace support as possible. Yet, they began the series with Mohammed Siraj and the two debutants, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Of them, Reddy would almost certainly not have played but for his batting skills.
India made 150 at Perth, but Bumrah bent the course of the Test match. The triumph probably played a part in India going with the same pace attack at Adelaide. This time it backfired.
At Brisbane, India brought in Akash Deep – but for Rana, not Reddy or the spinner. Instead of increasing pace depth, they simply changed the third fast bowler (though they kept changing the spinner).
At Melbourne, India went in with a similar attack. They did add another all-rounder, but they did nothing to increase their pace depth. It is his fourth Test match, but Reddy has so far bowled only 34 overs – at best the workload of a batter who rolls his arm over to bowl seam.
India have not tried to win Test matches on the tour. Had they tried that, they would have bolstered their attack with specialist fast bowlers. Instead, they chose to minimise the number of tail-enders. They wanted to avoid defeat. The defensive approach has helped neither the team nor Bumrah.
As Mohammed Siraj looked off-colour at times throughout the series, Bumrah had to adopt the dual role of being India’s strike bowler as well as the stock bowler.
It need not be told that fast bowlers, given the nature of their job, need to be handled with special care. Over the decades, India have not managed the workload of their fast bowlers well.
India had overbowled Ramakant Desai and forced him into retirement by 30.
India had overbowled Kapil Dev – as captain, he played a role himself – and he had to cut down on his pace to be able to bowl longer spells. Of course, his supreme fitness levels helped.
India had overbowled Javagal Srinath and he went down with an injury at the peak of his career.
The greatest fast bowler India has known has already suffered a serious injury. This has already been his busiest year in Test cricket in a long time. Something needs to change.
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