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Former South Africa pacer Vernon Philander feels Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management is crucial for the Indian team ahead of the Champions Trophy and Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Philander’s comments come after Bumrah is currently out of the Indian ODI XI against England due to a back injury. Although, the star pacer was earlier expected to play the final ODI on February 12 in Ahmedabad, there is no clarity on Bumrah’s fitness yet.
Interestingly, Jasprit Bumrah hasn’t played a 50-over game for India since the 2023 World Cup, where he scalped 20 wickets in 11 games. Then, the speedster’s appearance in the shortest format came only during the 2024 T20 World Cup, which saw Bumrah end with 15 wickets to help India clinch the title victory.
Thereafter, the 31-year-old was part of India’s home Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia witnessed him emerging as the finest bowler with 32 wickets. However, he could bowl only 10 overs in the final Test, before complaining of back injury.
Since then, Jasprit Bumrah has been out of the Indian squad and there are doubts about his participation in the Champions Trophy, slated to take place from February 19 to March 9.
Here’s what Philander said about Bumrah in a media interaction during the SA20 tournament:
“I think he (Bumrah) has really set the standard high. With his skill set and the ability to shift his pace up and down, I think he has just been wonderful for the game. Overall, if you look at the number of games that India plays, that load is quite massive. It’s more about how the Indian management manages him. I would say, you look at a guy like Jasprit Bumrah, and you want him to be playing all the key series, all the key tournaments. So they have to manage his workload in between tournaments.”
“I would say, you perhaps want to look at playing him in all the main features, and give other bowlers an opportunity in less important matches,” he added.
Further, Vernon Philander feels it will be difficult for Jasprit Bumrah to participate in all IPL 2025 games for the Mumbai Indians. As per him, Bumrah and team management need to have a “tough chat” on how to progress on this matter.
“With IPL coming up, you want a player like him to be available for most games but how do you manage him throughout the IPL season?” he continued.
“It’s such a tough chat to have, because as a bowler, you want to go out there, you know, there’s records to be broken, so you want to keep playing,” Philander said, on the topic of asking Bumrah to be rested.
How did Jasprit Bumrah perform in Champions Trophy 2017?
Jasprit Bumrah made his international debut in an ODI fixture against Australia in January 2016. Making an impact early in his career, Bumrah was a part of India’s Champions Trophy 2017 squad as well.
However, Bumrah could return with mediocre performances, finishing with four wickets in five games at an average of 52.50. He finished with expensive figures of 0/68 off nine overs in the final against Pakistan, as India went on to lose the game by 180 runs.
