Not all fans of Bumrah’s availability algorithm

A disclaimer to open — this is not a roast of Jasprit Bumrah or a slur on his achievements or his abilities. Bumrah is one of Indian cricket's modern greats, a tri-format giant, with an impressive haul of wickets, from a superb set of performances leading to a superb set of numbers.

- Sharda Ugra

What's happening around Bumrah now though isa tug-of-war of brand persona and performance impact from the recently concluded England v India Test series.

Bumrah produced two impressive first-innings fifers in it but without his usual sledgehammer impact. His series concluded with 14 wickets in 119 overs @25 econ 3.04. His workload management mismatch — India winning the two Tests he skipped for fear of aggravating back strain — has caused a social media sniper exchange with BCCI's timed leaks about its future strictness against ‘picking and choosing.’

The science first. The latest studies, circa 2022, around lumbar stress fracture in elite cricket fast bowlers present a range of bone-density readings on specific spinal regions, that bowlers like Bumrah — and his medical team —are required to keep tabs on, following Bumrah’s back surgery in 2023.

In this series, Bumrah was handled as carefully as possible and the questions raised are cricketing, with no prior knowledge of his latest medical reports. In Leeds, with England chased 373 to win in the second innings, Bumrah bowled more overs than the other quicks — 19 to Mohammed Siraj’s 14. The English batters chose, as Ben Duckett said, to “limit his (Bumrah’s) impact” by opting to bat conservatively against him. Bumrah bowled in short spells, the longest four overs. His last over in Leeds was the 65th of the innings, England 286/4, trailing by8l.