Jasprit Bumrah needs to rework on his stressful bowling action: Michael Holding

It has been the talk of the town. Ever since it was revealed that Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out for two months due to a minor stress fracture in his lower-back, fans, pundits, almost everyone has been talking about the possible impact of the injury. Editorials are being churned out discussing the possible impact of the injury in the future.

The latest to join the bandwagon is former West Indies fast bowler, Michael Holding, who used to be called as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of bowling owing to his free-flowing run-up and smooth action. He went on to reiterate his stand that too much cricket is being played in the modern era and all cricketers- especially fast bowlers- are suffering because of it.

“Let me start by repeating what I have been saying for the last decade: There is too much cricket being played in the modern era and all cricketers are suffering because of that,” Holding told Sportstar.

Bumrah needs to have a run-up and action that puts a bit less stress on his body overall

Holding, who has been a vocal critic of Bumrah’s action unorthodox action ever since his Test debut last year in South Africa, once again alluded that a tweak in his action could serve the Indian spearhead in the long run.

“I wouldn’t be able to say that Bumrah’s action has caused him to have stress fractures as I have no idea where those stress fractures have occurred, but what I know and have said to him is this: If he wants to have a long career, he needs to have a run-up and action that puts a bit less stress on his body overall,” Holding alluded.

While he refused to say that Bumrah’s action was the chief reason for the occurrence of the stress fracture, he did say that having such a short run-up and being so explosive at the crease puts an enormous amount of stress on his body. He even went on to put forth Jofra Archer’s smooth run-up and action which allows him to uniformly distribute the workload over his body.

“Using such a short run and being so explosive at the crease puts a lot more stress on his body than, say, a Jofra Archer, who has such a smooth rhythmical run-up and action that allows him to distribute the workload over his body more efficiently,” he continued.

The former fast bowler stressed on the fact that fast bowlers will suffer more than the rest because of the demanding nature of the job. He also emphasized the role of strength and conditioning coaches in building a fit fast bowler.

“I have no problem with fast bowlers going to the gym. It’s a matter of managing what is done in the gym. You need strength to bowl fast along with stamina work of course, but the strengthening in the gym has to be managed and the program has to be set out by someone who understands the job of fast bowling and not just by someone looking to create a Hulk.”

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah is set to travel to the United Kingdom to seek an opinion on his injury from multiple specialists.

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