Stress fracture not caused by Bumrah’s bowling action, says Ashish Nehra
Former cricketer Ashish Nehra has said that Jasprit Burah’s stress fracture, has nothing to do with his bowling action. Bumrah who was named in the 15 man squad for the Test series against South Africa had to be replaced after he was diagnosed with a stress fracture on his lower back region.
Despite being rested after India’s tour of West Indies, Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of action for at least a couple of months, owing to a stress fracture. Several within the cricketing community feel that the injury was a result of Bumrah’s unorthodox bowling action which was doing him more harm than good. Former Indian cricketer Ashish Nehra, seems to think otherwise.
“Stress fracture is unrelated to action and we must get our concepts clear. He doesn’t need to change his action and if he tries to do that, it won’t be great. Let me assure you when he comes back, he can bowl with same action, intensity and pace.” Nehra said, as quoted by Sportstar.
Nehra feels that many mistake Bumrah’s action thinking that it is more complex than conventional bowling techniques.
“His action is not that unconventional as it is made out to be. The alignment of his body at the time of delivery is perfect. The only aspect that is not copybook is his left hand (works like a pivot), which doesn’t go up. Even then, his action is 10 times better than Malinga. Malinga’s knees, back leg bends looking for a javelin thrower,” said Nehra.
Nehra who once was one the lead bowler for India, in limited-overs cricket, himself, was victim to several such injuries during his career. His firsthand experience as a bowler, dealing with such injuries, make him an expert on this matter.
“In the case of a stress fracture, there is no time frame. Jasprit might feel good in the next two months and may not feel good even after six months. So only the player knows when his body is feeling cent percent match ready. Stress fracture doesn’t have medication. It’s only proper rest and rehabilitation unlike disc injury or any nerve tissue injury,” he said.
Injuries like stress fractures are often hard to detect, and as is evident for the case for Bumrah, need not necessarily be avoidable, even with efficient workload management.
“He had a month’s break post ODI World Cup. He didn’t play white-ball format and came for Test matches. But that means workload was well managed but still he had that fracture. Now can you explain why? Had they not done scans, they wouldn’t even have figured as players wouldn’t immediately figure out they have a stress fracture. Now fast-bowling is a strenuous activity and do a bone scan of any bowler and you will see those spots. Do you stop playing? It’s just that you have to manage it well as some injuries are chronic,” he said.
Bumrah after being ruled out of the series had taken to social media to promise his supporters that he would recover and come back stronger than ever. Nehra seems to share similar sentiments as the cricketer.
“At this stage of Bumrah’s career, the more he plays, the better he will get at it. Jessi is only 25 or 26 years old. He is playing international cricket for three years and he knows his body well. He will come back stronger and the pace in his deliveries will remain intact,” he concluded.
