IPL vs National duty, Jasprit Bumrah has played only 5 T20Is for India in 2022 vs 14 matches for Mumbai Indians

Indian pace bowling sensation Jasprit Bumrah may not like it but he finds himself in a batttle against time, trying to get fit for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 that begins this month in Australia. Bumrah, earlier, missed the Asia Cup 2022 where India made an exit in only the 2nd round. He came back for the Australia T20Is but did not play the 1st match. In the next 2 T20Is, his returns were not heartening. On the day of 1st T20I vs South Africa, he was declared unfit by a BCCI tweet, which also informed that he would miss the match. Later, he was replaced by Mohammed Siraj in India squad for T20Is vs Proteas men.

In between, BCCI sources were quoted saying that Bumrah could be out for more than 6 months due to a stress fracture injury. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Friday cleared the air when he said that let's not jump the gun on Bumrah's injury and wait for clarity. That means Bumrah can still make it but chances are less that even if he flies with the team on October 6, he would play the first big clash vs Pakistan on October 23. 

Experts are saying that Bumrah's back injury must raise questions on team management's handling of his workload. But is it so? Has the management not given Bumrah enough rest in the T20 World Cup year. Facts reveal a different story. Truth is India have played 30 T20Is this year so far, including the 1st IND vs SA match, and Bumrah has featured in only 5 of them. One can understand him missing the South Africa T20Is in June and then Ireland ones as he was sent to play the fifth rescheduled Test vs England during this period. But the numbers are significantly less even then. Should not India's best pace bowler be playing more T20Is, and not T20s, in the World Cup year?

#InPics | 5 bowlers who can replace #JaspritBumrah in #T20WorldCup2022https://t.co/8qcfgVCooC — Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) September 30, 2022

Not to forget, in the same year, Bumrah has played 14 back to back T20Is in IPL 2022, a tournament which has tight schedules. It would be unfair to say that Bumrah is giving priority to IPL before national duty but one cannot deny the disparity in numbers. He has played 5 T20Is vs 14 IPL matches. 

#JaspritBumrah can still play T20 World Cup? #SouravGanguly hopeful about India pacer's recovery, says this:#T20WorldCup2022 https://t.co/5axzfjAUgn — Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) September 30, 2022

As far as workload is concerned, Bumrah skipped India's 1st T20I series vs West Indies this year. He came back to play Sri Lanka series in February. And then played England in June in a T20I match. After that, he has had injury issues, missing Asia Cup. His last 2 T20Is came vs Aussies at home. Bumrah was given rest for Windies series. He was then give rest again for Windies T20Is in the Carribean. He has played 5 Tests in total in 2022, and 5 ODIs. In total, Bumrah has played 15 matches for India in 2022 so far. If he has failed to keep his body fit, in an age where fitness is given so much importance, whose fault is it?

To put things in perspective, Bumrah has featured in 29 matches in 2022, almost half of them were in IPL. It certainly raises questions on Team India's planning. It has given a hard-learnt lesson that big players like Bumrah should be managed well in World Cup year.