Fast bowlers should play IPL to get match practice before World Cup: Ashish Nehra

Fast bowlers in cricket are the most injury prone. If their workload is in excess, an injury is likely to happen, which is why each team preserves its best quick only for the biggest of series’ and tournaments. It is due to this reason that fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has also been rested from the Australia and New Zealand ODIs and T20Is, keeping the ICC 2019 World Cup in mind.

But contrary to popular opinion, former India fast bowlers believes that India should not rest its pacers during the Indian Premier League as a way to preserve them for the mega event in England which begins just after the conclusion of the IPL. Nehra, the coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), is of the view that fast bowlers should play at least 8-10 matches as it will provide them with match practice and also give a chance to remain in touch with competitive cricket.

“I think it is a wrong thought-process to rest the World Cup-bound fast bowlers during the IPL. Lohey ko zang lag jaata hai [Iron gets rusted]. No matter how much training you do, you need match practice. If a bowler himself feels he needs rest then that is a different matter. In my view, they should play 8-10 IPL games. It will be helpful for the World Cup,” Nehra told The Mumbai Mirror.

Nehra’s injury in 2011 World Cup

He further reiterated his point by saying that anyone can get injured any time, not just during IPL. He recalled his 2011 World Cup injury, the one in which he injured himself in the semi-final against Pakistan.

“You can get injured any time, not only during the IPL. In the 2011 World Cup, I got injured in the semi-final against Pakistan. You can get injured in practice too. Or even in the first match of the World Cup. We will have a couple of weeks between the IPL and the World Cup, which is sufficient to recover from niggles,” he added.

The IPL 2019 will start on March 23 and is expected to end in the second week of May while the World Cup is scheduled to kick-start on May 30.

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