Shoaib Akhtar’s Prediction On Jasprit Bumrah Has Come True

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Ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022, the Indian cricket team received a huge blow as their sensational pacer Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the marquee tournament with a suspected stress fracture on his back.

Jasprit Bumrah, who has only played 15 matches this year so far, recently returned to the T20I scheme of things in the Australia series. He was ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 because of a back injury. Jasprit had traveled with the Indian team to Thiruvananthapuram for the first T20I against South Africa, however, he could not take part in it as he had issues with his back during a practice session.

Meanwhile, BCCI is yet to give an official update on Bumrah’s injury or his replacement but if the reports floating around are to be believed then it will either be Mohammed Shami or Mohammed Siraj. Shami has just recovered from COVID-19 and is among the four standby players for the T20 World Cup 2022. On the other hand, Siraj wasn’t even considered in the scheme of things in the T20I format.

Jasprit Bumrah

In the meantime, social media has been buzzing with various reactions ever since the news about Jasprit Bumrah’s injury broke out. Amidst all the reactions, an old video of Shoaib Akhtar, in which the former Pakistan pacer can be seen talking about how Bumrah’s uncanny action can lead to career-threatening back injuries. Speaking to the Sports Tak a year ago, Akhtar said:

“His (Bumrah’s) bowling is based on frontal action. Players with that action bowl with their backs and shoulder speed. We used to be side-on, and that used to compensate (for the pressure on the back). Front-on action has no compensation and with that action, when the back gives in, you can’t escape it irrespective of how much you try,” 

He further gave examples of former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop and former New Zealand pacer Shane Bond to state that India can’t play Jasprit in all the formats of the game. He said:

“I saw [Ian] Bishop’s struggling with his back, Shane Bond too, and both had frontal actions. Bumrah now needs to think in this way, ‘I played a match, took an off, and go to rehab’. He needs to manage. If you play him every match, in one year, he will completely break down. Play him three matches out of five and take him out. Bumrah will have to manage this one thing if he wants to last forever,”

Watch the video:

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