Ian Bishop, the former West Indian pacer has weighed in on Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness issues. Bishop said that it’s not the time for him to change his bowling action anymore. He also mentioned that the 29-year-old Indian speedstar can follow in the footsteps of Mark Wood and find a way to get himself fitter.
Jasprit Bumrah, who got sidelined from all forms of cricket in September 2022 due to a recurring back issue, recently underwent surgery in New Zealand. According to reports, he is in touch and goes as far as getting fit and taking part in the ICC Cricket World Cup starting on October 5, 2023, at home.
While talking to PTI, Ian Bishop talked about how the bowling action of pacers can be quite unique to one another and each one of them should look to extract the best out of themselves in their own way.
“Everybody has got a unique way in how they formulate their action and Jasprit is more unique than most others, so I think he has got to use the physical gifts he was blessed with fine-tune it as he goes along. It is a tough one? How do you change? Mikey Holding is like a father figure to me and I know he spoke to Mark Wood about extending his run-up to alleviate the exacting force on his body compared to a shorter run. Mark has done that and it seems to have assisted him. So Jasprit is going to find his own way. I don't think you can look at changing his action.”
Ian Bishop, who played 127 international matches for West Indies in an 8-year-long career, mentioned that it’s too demanding for a current fast bowler to take part in all formats of the game year after year. “Any fast bowler worth his soul can play all formats of the game all year and maintain his cutting-edge pace; it is just too demanding. The sprint up and down, the hamstring, the workload of the body. It has to be managed.”
Also, he advised the governing bodies of cricket to not play these fast bowlers in every tournament. Currently, Ian Bishop can be seen and heard commentating on the Indian Premier League 2023 season.