With Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of the upcoming T20 World Cup due to an injured back, Team India will have a huge task in hand especially with star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also missing out. After BCCI released an official statement regarding Bumrah’s omission, former Australia cricketer Brett Lee, considered by many to be the greatest pacer in history, had some advice for the Mumbai Indians (MI) star.
Speaking on YouTube, Lee spoke about how bowlers can avoid injuries and called ice baths ‘overrated’. He also felt that pacers should not lift heavy weights as lean muscle mass is key. “We see lots of bowlers lifting heavy weights like squats, leg press, body weights, bench press, bicep-curls … I want to make it clear gym work is important but if you want to bowl over 150ks, lean-muscle mass is the key. Don’t be lifting heavy weights, it’s slow (arm) action. You need fast-twitch muscles for fast bowling. You have to be able to run, to sprint”, he said.
Opening up on his rehabilitation to recover from injuries, he revealed, “I would do a lot of soft-sand running; it would take an impact off my ankle, my knees and my back. I then supplement it by running on the grass and you feel like you are running super quick. Do the hard work on sand and then run on grass.”
“Once you are not too bulky, because you have to think too every kilogram you carry extra is the force going through your front foot. When bowlers bowl, they are like two times their body weight. If you weigh 90kilos, it’s like 180 kilos going through their front ankle”, he explained.
“I was 16 times my body weight; and so had six ankle operations but it was also why I bowled fast because of pressure and power. A bit like a Pole vaulter, getting through and over your action.”
Lee also lashed out at ice baths used for recovery in modern-day cricket. Ice baths are used as it is believed that they flush out lactic acid, but the former player feels its ‘rubbish’. “When it comes to ice Baths, they are overrated. There is no scientific evidence to prove that they work. They are great here in India, or the subcontinent, to drop your core temperature, but if someone out there wants me to show a scientific paper on ice baths if they can prove it they can flush out nitric acid, bring it on. I reckon they are rubbish”, he said.
