Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has completed 50 wickets in England in Test cricket. The right-arm speedster reached the landmark on Day 3 of the 4th Test against England at Old Trafford, Manchester. Jasprit Bumrah attained the feat with his first breakthrough in the game.
Notably, Jasprit Bumrah is only the second Indian with 50 Test wickets in the nation.
As per ESPNcricinfo, Jasprit Bumrah has become the second Indian to take 50 Test wickets in England.He joined Ishant Sharma, who has picked up 51 wickets in 15 Tests at 33.35 in the country. The likes of Kapil Dev (43) and Mohammed Shami (42) trail Bumrah on this elite list.No other Indian bowler owns 40-plus wickets in this regard. As per Cricbuzz, Jasprit Bumrah is the third Asian bowler with 50 Test wickets in England after former Pakistan legend Wasim Akram (53) and Ishant (51).
However amidst this record, one thing was visible that Jasprit Bumrah was not in his full rhythm bowling at Manchester. He bowled cautiously as if he was carrying some niggle . This came as a major concern as Indian spearhead almost went wicketless until the fag end of the Day where he got his sole wicket of Jamie Smith.
Jasprit Bumrah limping to the dressing room -A worrying sign for Team India
Jasprit Bumrah, highly regarded as the “world’s best” of the current generation, has fizzled out in India’s baptism by fire in England. He cast a spell in the first innings of the series opener at Headingley with a sizzling five-wicket haul, but soon started to fade away.He went wicketless in the second innings but returned to Lord’s with another sweltering five-for. In Manchester, he has enjoyed minimal success with a sole scalp of Jamie Smith to his name after 28 overs. This has been Bumrah’s story throughout India’s tour of England.
Ace India pacer Jasprit Bumrah was seen limping while climbing the stairs at the Old Trafford stadium on Day 3 of the Manchester Test, raising concerns about his fitness even as India stare at a series defeat, with England bagging control of the fourth Test and the visitors’ injury list increasing. Jasprit Bumrah was unavailable to bowl for a while during the first two sessions of the Manchester Test, after he reportedly twisted his ankle while climbing up the stairs.
Doubts started to surface when Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t return for a second spell after bowling only one over with the second new ball. Concerns grew after commentators confirmed that Jasprit Bumrah had left the field to receive treatment. As the overs ticked by and Joe Root, along with England skipper Ben Stokes, neutralised the new ball, Jasprit Bumrah’s continued absence started to be felt.  The camera caught Jasprit Bumrah seated just beyond the boundary beside his teammates, a faint expression of pain visible on his face.Â
As the next over got underway, Jasprit Bumrah appeared uncomfortable while fielding near the boundary. His expression said it all; he wasn’t at full fitness. Sanjay Manjrekar has raised big concerns regarding the same and echeod sentiments regarding Jasprit Bumrah’s Workload management.
Sanjay Manjrekar issues stern warning regarding Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness
Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management has been a talking point of debate ever since the conclusion of Border Gavaskar Trophy. Ahead on the ongoing test series between England and India, the Indian team management had confirmed that 31-year -old Bumrah would only play three out of five Tests to be held in England. Citing so Jasprit Bumrah was rested in the second Test at Birmingham.
Despite a long 9 day gap between Third and Fourth Test , Bumrah looked out of sorts bowling in the 1st innings at Manchester. Former Indian batter now commentator Sanjay Manjrekar now speaking on Espn Cricinfo, admitted that there are genuine issues regarding Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness . He however added that the right arm pacer is a genius of a bowler and needed to be handled with a lot of care to extract the best out of him.
Bumrah notably grappled with his fitness issues during the second session of the third day. After India opted to exercise the option of taking the new ball in the 91st over, Bumrah managed just one over, going for 11 runs before walking off the field. Manjrekar felt that Bumrah has found himself in a situation where he has yet to play his 50th Test but is being handled like one who has featured in 100 of them. While decoding the “unfortunate” situation, Manjrekar decided to put his weight behind the world’s best.
“We saw that right at the start of the series as well. Started off impressively at Headingley. First innings, he bowled well, but second innings, we could see him not having the same kind of effect. The speeds go down a little bit. Then the break came in,” Manjrekar commented.
“Very early in his career, we have to deal with a situation where you have a genius bowler, but you have to handle him as if he’s played 100 Test matches. It’s unfortunate that this is the situation, but it is something that people will always talk about because it’s come very early into his career. It is the reality, but Bumrah, even when he is bowling at 130 kph is still going to be your best seam bowler,” the 60-year-old went on to add.
Bumrah has 4 five-wicket hauls in England, the most for an Indian in Test cricket. No other Indian has more than two fifers in this regard. Notably, Bumrah is yet to take a match haul of 10 wickets in England. Two of Jasprit Bumrah’s fifers in England have come in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The premier pacer took 5/83 at Headingley and 5/74 at Lord’s, albeit both in a losing cause. At Lord’s, he recorded his 13th Test fifer away from home, breaking Kapil Dev’s record of 12.
In the first innings of Manchester though , Bumrah has bowled 28 overs so far and registered figures of 1-95. Bumrah will play only three of the five Tests owing to workload management and seeing his condition at Manchester it is evident that this could be his last Test match in the series until he decided to play at Oval on 31st July.
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