Glenn McGrath says what Jasprit Bumrah does is ‘tough on body’, needs an ‘off-season to manage workload’

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McGrath went on to explain why Bumrah frequently suffers from injury. “Unfortunately, what he does is pretty tough on the body. Especially when you’re playing a lot of cricket, there’s no time to have an off-season. He really needs to get a lot stronger physically and fitter to put up with the stresses of fast bowling. And he needs an off-season. It will get him strong through the season,” he said.

Given Bumrah’s injury concerns, talks of India over-using him in Australia earlier this year – which ruled him out of action till mid-IPL – continue to occupy air space. Even in the series against England, where he was able to play only three Tests, he ended up bowling a lot before struggling in Manchester. When asked if India could manage him any differently in the Tests he plays to ensure he plays more matches, McGrath said he needs help from the rest of the pace pack.

“You want your best bowler bowling. And he’ll want to bowl all the time. If he’s just bowling in short spells, then the batting team know they just can get through the three or four overs and then they’re away. So it depends a lot on the other bowlers. You need another group of fast bowlers coming through to balance it out so that he doesn’t have to bowl long spells. You’ve got other bowlers bowling equally as well to carry the workload. You look at Bumrah, he’s so effective in ODI and T20 cricket. To limit himself to Test cricket would be a shame. But, he’s got to work out what’s best for him,” McGrath said.

England captain Ben Stokes, who is the leading wicket-taker in the series, is also not featuring at the Oval Test because of a shoulder injury. Ahead of the Test, Stokes pointed out the short turnaround between the fourth and fifth Test, with just three days in between, which didn’t give any room for recovery. India have had to rotate their seam attack with Mohammed Siraj being the lone exception to play all five Tests.

“Well, it’s important for a fast bowler to have an off-season,” McGrath, who picked up 563 Test wickets, said. “If you just keep playing year in, year out, I always say it’s like driving a car. And you don’t fill it up with fuel. But you keep driving it. Sooner or later, you’re going to run out of fuel, and things will happen. It’s the nature of the beast. Being a fast bowler, we put a lot of stress on our bodies,” McGrath said.

The former Australian pacer, who won three World Cups in ODIs, then went on to list what he did to keep himself injury-free despite facing a severe back injury during his initial years. “Three things that I felt held me in good stead. One was I had a pretty good action, short delivery strides, so I wasn’t putting the stress on my body that other bowlers would. So I had a good action. Good genetics also helped. My bone density is really high, so that probably held me in good stead as well. And then work ethic off the field. Courtney Walsh played 21 years straight. Bowling, 21 years straight! Absolutely unbelievable. So, you’ve got to know yourself well and know what you need to do. But 99.9 per cent of fast bowlers need an off-season to get strong again, to get them through the next season,” the 55-year-old who now coaches at MRF Pace Foundation said.

As McGrath was listing out the work he put in behind the scenes, Kevin Chevell, who trained the Australian pacer through his career and is now part of the foundation, weighed in with his thoughts. “Ideally, you need 8 weeks. With Glenn, after the session when he joined the team, I knew I wouldn’t be seeing him for the next 15-18 months. You need to give the body the break it deserves. It is what the likes of Starc do it,” Chevell said.

The pitches in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy have been batting-friendly with bowlers from both sides having to toil hard for wickets. But each of the four Tests have gone into the final session and McGrath said he didn’t have any issues with the pitches that are used for Bazball. “It’s been quite high scoring, which is a little unusual in English conditions with the Duke cricket ball. So it hasn’t been a one-sided affair. It’s been good, solid test cricket. It’s been enjoyable. It’s close. Obviously, they want the game to last as long as possible. I don’t mind if the pitches are a little flat, as long as there’s got to be something in it for the bowler. And if the game’s coming right down the wire on the fifth day, then it’s perfect, isn’t it?” he added.