The 29-year-old, who is recovering from a reoccurring back problem, was spotted bowling on Wednesday without any signs of discomfort and without slowing down.
Jasprit Bumrah sounded comfortable and at ease as if he had never been away from the game even though he had been away from competitive cricket for 327 days and had spent countless hours in rehab booths, surgery tables and practise nets. He led India to the first of three T20I series against Ireland on Friday without even a hint of anxiousness or over-excitement.
He missed playing cricket throughout the hiatus, but he never entertained bad ideas. “I never believed that it was gone or that my dark time was over.
He claims that he was thinking about the rehab process rather than worrying about his injury or if he could get back to his top fitness. “When your injuries take a while to heal, it might get annoying. However, I was thinking about how I may heal more quickly and make a comeback rather than having self-doubts, he says.
He claims that in some ways, the time away from the game helped to clear his mind of the stresses of competitive cricket. “I spoke to my mother about it for the first time this summer, maybe after 10–11 years. I saw it as the off-season, when I could spend a lot of time with my family. You also miss certain significant competitions, but you have little influence over that, so you can’t truly feel frustrated about it. When the body need time to heal, you must respect it, he muses.
No rush was made to stage a comeback. There are numerous cautionary tales of fast bowlers who were thrown back into competitive cricket only to falter. None more so than the case of England’s Jofra Archer, who returned too soon for a limited-over series in South Africa and the IPL and overexerted himself, hurting himself once more, and nearly missing England’s World Cup defence.
Given how important Bumrah is to the squad and how much of a generational, near-indispensible talent he is, it might have been alluring to push him into major competitions, as they attempted in vain to do before the T20 World Cup in Australia last year. But after that, there hasn’t been any rush to get him back into the international game, even if that meant he had to miss the Indian Premier League and the Test series against Australia before it. The goal was to get him back to his best match shape in time for the World Cup.
Bumrah, however, claims that he has been bowling with the World Cup in mind. “We were mindful of the fact that there is no Test cricket until the ODI World Cup,” he explains. I did not practise for a T20 game throughout my rehabilitation either. I was always getting ready for the World Cup match. In the past, I’ve thrown 10, 12, and even 15 overs. In order to make it easy when less bowling is needed, I have bowled more overs. We were conscious of the fact that we were training for a one-day competition rather than a four-over competition.
“I exclusively play traditional bowling. I’m not trying to hold anything back. When my rehabilitation was finished, I returned home and participated in Gujarat team practises. I’ve played a few practise matches in addition to participating in numerous net sessions at various locations. There are no limitations, and I am not holding back, he says.
“From where you left, you are somewhat down, but you keep climbing. You must continue to advance, he advises.
In the World Test Championship and T20 World Cup, he was much missed. But winning the World is their biggest prize.
However, Bumrah is not someone who is weighed down by expectations. He has a reputation for smiling warmly in the face of both victory and disappointment. His defining attribute has always been equanimity. So he was unconcerned by the overwhelming expectations all around him. I don’t accept pressure from others’ expectations, and I also don’t have irrational expectations of myself, he claims.
“Everyone else’s expectations are their problems, not mine,” he chuckles. My goals are to have fun playing, be as prepared as possible, and perform at my highest level. Therefore, I’m taking those steps in the hopes that everything will work itself out.
