Brad Hogg emphasizes need of breaks for Jasprit Bumrah to get the best out of pacer

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the Indian players who has frequently been rested recently, and former Australia spinner Brad Hogg is of the opinion that India must continue managing their star fast bowler in a similar manner to keep him sharp for Test matches or important competitions like the T20 World Cup, which is set to begin later this year.

Bumrah’s performances during India’s current tour of England, especially his stats in the first ODI, have caused many to claim that he may be the best fast bowler in the world across formats. Bumrah achieved exceptional results of 6/19 in the first ODI after recording results of 2/10 in the second T20I.

“He is definitely up there. But with all fast bowlers around the world, I think they have got to manage carefully because they are your main asset in any team. Yes, you’ve got your batters and spinners (but) the workload on the spinners isn’t as harsh as on the fast bowlers,” Hogg told Hindustan Times on the sidelines of a Tourism Western Australia event.

“If you want Bumrah at his peak for Test cricket and the T20 World Cup and other tournaments, your medical staff have to be top-notch. When you are critiquing teams and when you see Bumrah doing not so well, that is probably a period where his training loads have dampened off,” he added.

Hogg backed his opinion by quoting Brett Lee’s example

Hogg used the 2003 World Cup scenario as to explain Australia’s strategy, and how they benefited from making sure former speedster Brett Lee performed at his best. In that World Cup, Lee was at his fiery best, ending just one wicket behind Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka in terms of most wickets taken in the tournament, as Australia claimed the championship title.

“I’ll give you a little secret, 2003 World Cup Brett Lee. We had a Test series before that but the whole thing that leading up to the World Cup was for him to be at his peak. And he ended up bowling some of the quickest balls ever seen in that tournament. That happened because of him sitting down with the physios and planning everything through to that particular moment for him to peak in that World Cup,” Hogg explained.