Jasprit Bumrah has to make changes in his bowling to take pressure off his back: Brett Lee

Former Australian gun fast bowler Brett Lee reckons Jasprit Bumrah will have to make changes to his bowling action to take pressure off his back. Bumrah has been recovering from a back injury, which he had suffered before the T20 World Cup 2022.

The Indian ace paceman recently went under the knife for his back injury in New Zealand and he is expected to get back into action in August.

Meanwhile, Bumrah has a small run-up, which puts a lot of load on his back and shoulders. India has definitely missed his services in all three formats of the game as he has been the team’s pack leader for the last few years.

“Bumrah has got a wonderful record. Unfortunately for him, he has had that back issue for quite some time now,” said Lee, who is playing in the Legends League Cricket in Doha.

“The only advice I would say is that with his run-up being so short, he has to find that pace and power out of his action where I think, maybe now in due course, he might extend his run-up to allow that pressure to be taken off his back.”

On the other hand, former Indian player Madan Lal feels India should take Umesh Yadav to the WTC Final against Australia, which will be played at the Oval from June 7. Yadav recently scalped three wickets in the first innings at Indore and he is known to reverse swing the ball.

“They will take Umesh [to WTC final]. There you need at least 3 pacers so, only one spinner might play and the rest will be fast bowlers. Bumrah ko ab bhool jao. Usko chhor dijiye aap (Forget Bumrah. Leave him out of the equation),” Lal said on Sports Tak.

“When Bumrah returns, we will see then. Use whatever you have. What is the guarantee? No wonder when he will return – maybe in 1 to 1.5 years. He has not played in so long. It means his injury is very serious.”

India will take on Australia in the first ODI on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.