Ashish Nehra opens up on Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness, says fast bowler is going to decide his own workload

Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra believes a pre-planned strategy for Jasprit Bumrah might not work and the fast bowler will be the best judge to tell about his own workload. It has been reported that Bumrah could play the first, third and fifth Test match against England.

However, Nehra reckons it is imperative to take one game at a time and then take a call on Bumrah’s workload. The ace pacer had suffered a back injury against Australia in the Sydney Test match and he could not bowl in the second innings. The gun fast bowler had bagged 32 wickets in five Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar trophy at a stunning average of 13.06.

Bumrah then went on to miss the Champions Trophy and was also ruled out of the first few games of the IPL. 

Ashish Nehra said via Hindustan Times, “On Bumrah’s workload, the judge won’t be Gill, it will be the fast bowler himself. On some occasions, we have seen Bumrah picking up five wickets in 12-13 overs. That’s how skilful he is. It’s the bowler who will tell the physio and the captain on how his body is coping. You can’t script this, this is not a movie.”

“I have been hearing that Bumrah will play the 1st, 3rd and the 5th Test. But what if it rains in the first Test? You can’t make these plans well in advance. Who knows, he may feel good to play back-to-back Tests.”

On the other hand, Bumrah himself said he is looking to play three Test matches against England. Earlier, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had also confirmed Bumrah won’t play all the five Test matches on England tour.

Bumrah said on Sky Cricket, “I’m definitely looking at playing three Test matches. That’s the plan for now. Obviously, the exact number is not fixed yet, but the first one is certainly on. We’ll have to see how things go — the workload, the match scenarios, all of that. But yes, at this moment, three Tests is what I feel I can manage comfortably without putting myself in a desperate situation.”

India would take on England in the first Test at Leeds, Headingley, from June 20 onwards.