Shoaib Akhtar has described Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling action as unsustainable and cited it as a key reason for his injuries. Bumrah has been out of action since August 2022 and was ruled out of multiple T20I series and the Asia C up.
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Bumrah recovered in time to play face Australia in a three-game T20 series before the further worsening of the injury. This setback pushed him out of the T20 World Cup and is yet to return since. Addressing this injury saga, Akhtar deemed Bumrah's bowling action ‘unsustainable’ and criticised BCCI for not managing his injury well.
Shoaib Akhtar, while talking to Sports Tak, said, “The amount of cricket he has played he will break down. He was a regular in all three formats then he was playing IPL. His action is not that sustainable. It’s unfortunate, I feel India could have managed him a bit better. And he himself should have been more aware of which format he should play and which he should skip.”
Further, the Pakistan international broke down how Bumrah’s bowling action is the major cause of his back injury. Akthar stated as the Indian pacer loads up before bowling, it puts pressure on his spinal cord because of his front-on approach.
Shoaib Akhtar also spoke about how his side-arm action allowed him to use his hips, thighs and his left arm to balance out the pressure. “He has this front-on action and when he loads up before delivering the bowl he puts a lot of pressure on his spinal cord."
"We used to be side-on, and bowlers like me we could take help from our hips, thighs, from left hand as well and that used to compensate (for the pressure on the back). Unfortunately, Jasprit doesn’t have that leverage,” the Pakistan fast bowler added.
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