Jasprit Bumrah. Pic Credits: Getty Images
Jasprit Bumrah. Pic Credits: Getty Images
Cricket ENG vs IND ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle

ENG vs IND : Kapil Dev Raises Voice Over Longevity Of Jasprit Bumrah

August 13, 2025
Anup Konnur

Following India’s heroic display against England in the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy (ATT), Jasprit Bumrah has become a victim of social media trolling and criticism from several former players following the call to play him in just three of the five matches, which saw Jasprit Bumrah miss both victories of the Shubman Gill-led side in Edgbaston and the Oval.

As Virat Kohli said post the 2024 T20 World Cup, Bumrah is a ‘national treasure’ and the statement hit the nail on the head. The star pacer Jasprit Bumrah  is the kind of cricketer that India has dreamed of having for years, and one that the country is unlikely to find again.

Jasprit Bumrah’s incredible commitment to Indian cricket

In Test cricket’s 148-year-old history, no bowler in the world has taken more than 200 wickets with an average below 20, except Jasprit Bumrah with 19.28. Among Indian bowlers, no one with more than three Test wickets has a better bowling average than the 31-year-old. To understand the context behind Jasprit Bumrah’s greatness, only four Indian bowlers with more than 50 wickets have an average below 30, and no one else has done better than 25.
Best Bowling Average By Indians In Test Cricket
Player Wickets Bowling Average
Jasprit Bumrah 219 19.82
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 63 26.09
Mohammed Shami 229 27.71
Kapil Dev 434 29.64
While a lot was made about India winning two games without Bumrah in the side, Sachin Tendulkar correctly pointed out that it was nothing more than a coincidence.
The star pacer has featured in 10 victories for India in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries, which is the joint-second most, alongside Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul, with only Cheteshwar Pujara (11) featuring in more victories in the four countries.
No bowler has taken more wickets than Bumrah (64 in 10 matches) for India in Test match victories in SENA Nations with Mohammed Siraj (51 in 9 matches), the only other player with more than 50 scalps. Anyone doubting Jasprit Bumrah’s commitment to the cause of the team will only be doing a disservice to the player, who puts his body on the line for the team in every game. Since the start of the decade, Bumrah has bowled the fifth most overs among pacers in the world and the most among Indians.

Most Overs Bowled In Test Cricket Since 1st January, 2020 (By Pacers)

Player Overs Matches/Innings
Pat Cummins 1270.4 42/77
Mitchell Starc 1253.3 44/85
Tim Southee 1248.0 36/71
James Anderson 1246.4 38/70
Jasprit Bumrah 1106.1 36/67
Mohammed Siraj 1069.5 41/76

Quite intrestingly, he has bowled 37 more overs than Mohammed Siraj despite playing five fewer matches. Bumrah’s average overs bowled by both match and innings are higher than his countryman, while nearly similar to that of Pat Cummins and better than Mitchell Starc.
This indicates that whenever Bumrah decides to take the field, he goes full throttle at the opposition and takes up extra responsibility to help the team’s cause.

Another criticism that has come towards Bumrah has been his availability in the IPL, with Indian cricket legend Dilip Vengsarkar suggesting that chief selector Ajit Agarkar should have asked him to miss the season. However, it is hard to believe it would have made a difference in the plans for the England series. In the 2025 IPL, Bumrah bowled 47 overs, while he ended up bowling 44 in the first Test itself.

If a bowler plays the maximum of 17 games in a season, he will bowl 68 overs, while a regular 14-game league campaign sees a bowler bowl 56 overs. This means almost two seasons will be needed for someone to have the same workload as Bumrah’s 119.4 overs in three matches in 20225 ATT and around three IPL campaigns to get to the 151 overs that Bumrah delivered in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).

Science behind Jasprit Bumrah’s injury scares

Ultimately, the advice on how many matches Jasprit Bumrah should play and how much rest he needs has been made by doctors and the medical staff around the Indian team. One can be assured that a decision is being made to the best of scientific knowledge, which must be allowed to prevail instead of irrational preaching over patriotism
It is no secret that Jasprit Bumrah’s action is the source of his strength, but it takes a huge toll on his body and puts him at risk of suffering injuries. Another bowler, who had a similar action, was Lasith Malinga, who played just 17 Test matches with the last being in 2010, which is not even half of what the Indian star has already played (46). The Sri Lankan spent the last decade of his career playing just white-ball cricket and cemented himself among the greatest ODI and T20I bowlers.

Similarly, Jofra Archer did not play a Test match for more than four years and, on his return, played just two games against India and also missed the series decider at the Oval without a big fuss being made about it. Jasprit Bumrah has already suffered three back injuries, which have forced him to spend a lengthy period on the sidelines. The biggest of which was an 11-month absence in 2022-23 when he underwent surgery for a stress fracture.

Infact, earlier this year, Bond himself warned India not to play Bumrah in more than two Test matches in a row and called that another injury on the same spot could be ‘career-ending.’ Jasprit Bumrah did try to push himself by playing all five games in the 2024-25 BGT. The ‘ab aur jor nahi lag raha’ remark by Bumrah towards Rohit Sharma during the MCG Test went viral, but the star pacer still played (as captain) the final Test at SCG despite a turnaround of just three days.
The decision proved a disaster as Jasprit Bumrah ended up injuring himself and left India without a bowler for most of the match, but also made him miss almost four months of cricket, including India’s 2025 Champions Trophy-winning campaign. Consideing all the factors above Former Indian Legendary skipper Kapil Dev has questioned Jasprit Bumrah’s sustainibility over the next 10-12 years in cricket.

Legendary Indian skipper Kapil Dev questions Jasprit Bumrah’s sustainibility over the next 10 -12 years for Indian cricket

Star Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers to have ever graced the game across all formats. He is arguably India’s finest match-winner in recent years, as he possesses the quality to single-handedly change the complexion of a game. His recent outing with the Indian national team was the five-Test tour of England. Jasprit Bumrah played in three out of the five Tests due to workload management, but despite missing two games, he ended up picking four wickets in the series, including two fifers.

Jasprit Bumrah’s performances with the national team across all formats have often drawn comparison with another legendary Indian fast bowler, Kapil Dev. The legendary all-rounder, for a very long time, was the world’s highest wicket-taker and is considered one of the finest to have ever represented the Men in Blue.

While there is no doubt about Bumrah’s talent as a bowler, questions have often been raised about his fitness. He has sustained multiple injuries in recent years, including the latest back injury, which he suffered during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in January. He missed the Champions Trophy in February and was also kept out of action by Mumbai Indians in the initial part of the Indian Premier League 2025 season.

Legendary Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev has now opened up on Bumrah’s unusual sling action. While Dev heaped praise on the fast bowler’s ability to generate pace, despite having a short run-up, the veteran star expressed concern over the pacer’s longevity.

Speaking on The Squirrels YouTube channel (via Cricktracker), Kapil Dev said:

“There are two things that always come out. Any bowler in the world with an awkward action takes that much difficult time for a batter to pick the ball like Malinga.

Those types of bowlers we don’t practice in the nets, and suddenly out of the blue, somebody comes with a different action, a difficult action, that fraction of a second, if you can’t pick what he’s trying to do, that is good enough for a bowler.”

The India icon added:

“So, Bumrah has become very good because nobody could imagine from a batsman’s point of view that in such a short run up, he can generate such big pace. His action is not like an athlete’s action; that’s why Bumrah can be devastating for the opposition. But can he sustain that for a period of 10 or 12 years, which, as a cricketer, we feel is difficult.”

Jasprit Bumrah is expected to miss the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, which will be hosted by UAE in the T20 format. The fast bowler will enjoy a much-needed rest and work on regaining full fitness before returning for India during their back-to-back home Test series against West Indies and South Africa.

Also Read: ENG vs IND : Shubman Gill Appointed Test Skipper For Red Ball

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