Star Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah has not played since September last year due to a back. He was ruled out of the Asia Cup as a precautionary measure considering the T20 World Cup later in the year but he ended up getting injured before the marquee tournament itself. Now, as per reports, Jasprit Bumrah is still not 100% match fit and may even miss the entire Test Series against Australia starting from 9 February.
Considering Bumrah’s injuries, Australia fast bowling great Jeff Thomson has said that Bumrah may have to take a call on whether he wants to prioritise limited overs cricket or Tests so as to prolong his career.
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“Well, Bumrah has to work out what he wants to play, short formats or Test matches or both. If I think about if I was playing now, it would be very hard for me to play Test matches. Especially, when you get so much money in the short version of the game which just makes your longevity better. We didn’t have to think about money in our days because there was no money. Now it’s a huge business. The only one who is going to look after you is yourself. So, you got to work out how long I am going to play for and how am I going to manage that because no one else is going to. I think you have to be more cunning these days in terms of workload and watch what you got to play. If you are good enough, they are going to pick you any way so you should be able to pull the strings,” Thomson said.
Thomson further said that regardless of what decision Bumrah makes, his standing as a great bowler lies in the fact that he will attract crowds regardless of what format he plays in. “I think it is the crowd that decides that. They know how good he is. If he doesn’t want to play Test cricket that is a bit of a blow but if he plays in a T20, they will turn up to watch him. What I am telling you is that if a guy limited himself to that, he is going to be playing for longer,” he added.