Former India captain Kapil Dev assessed that Jasprit Bumrah’s unusual bowling action attracted injuries, and said a bowler like Bhuvneshwar Kumar with a technically sound action will last longer.
Bumrah is currently recovering from a back injury, which has kept him out of action since the Test series against South Africa last month.
“Take the example of Bishan Bedi. He was a body bowler, not an arm bowler like most spinners or wrist bowlers. He was technically the best spin bowler because he bowled with the body. Look at Gavaskar as a batsman — technically flawless. Even today, at 70, give him a bat and he will come out technically very sound. But if a batsman is an ‘eye player’ he is more enjoyable to watch. Like Virender Sehwag, (GR) Viswanath. Take Sachin Tendulkar. He could have played for another five years because he was technically sound,” Kapil explained.
“So if your bowling action is technically sound you make a bigger impact. See what happened to (Jasprit) Bumrah, his action attracts injuries. He uses his arm more than body, so that can be a problem. A bowler like Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) will last longer because he uses his body.”
“Unfortunately Indian bowlers tend to bowl short in Australia because they get carried away after seeing the bounce. In the process they forget line and length. I can understand because when the wicketkeeper collects the ball in front of his face it cheers you up. But it does not always get you wickets. (Mohammed) Shami is guilty of that. He bowls a yard shorter when he plays overseas,” he added.
