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Shoaib Akhtar feels Jasprit Bumrah would risk injuries if he tries to find new heights in Tests.
Jasprit Bumrah. (Image: AP)
Pakistani legend Shoaib Akhtar believes that Jasprit Bumrah should stop playing Test cricket to extend his career. The former pacer pointed to Bumrah’s lack of impact in the home Tests against New Zealand — three wickets in four innings on mostly turning tracks — and said he’d need to risk injuries and increase his pace to continue to take Test wickets.
Bumrah is the top-ranked Test bowler in the world with a generational sub-20 average despite picking up 185 wickets. He achieved newer heights after coming back from a serious back injury in mid-2023 but has since been carefully managed. The 31-year-old was even rested from the third Test against New Zealand after India had conceded a 0-2 deficit.
“I think he is good enough to take wickets in Test cricket,” Akhtar said on The Nakash Khan Show podcast. “Although he didn’t do much in the Test series against New Zealand, it happens. But if he wants to continue playing Test cricket, he has to increase the pace. With the injection of increasing pace, he has a high risk of getting injured. If I was him, I would have stuck to shorter formats.”
“It only depends on how I feel. If I’m feeling good, okay, I’ll go out there, I’ll bend my back, make sure I take wickets for the team in Test matches. That is fine with me but he has to look after himself because he wants to play the IPL, he wants to play ODIs, he wants to play Test matches as well,” Akhtar said.
As Bumrah has progressed, India’s reliance on him has increased, too. He was the Player of the Match in the visitors’ massive win in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener but as he struggled a bit for control with the pink ball in Adelaide, India looked toothless.
‘When you start struggling, then people start questioning’ – Shoaib Akhtar
Akhtar further warned Bumrah that if his pace isn’t consistently high, he’ll have days where he won’t find seam or swing off the pitch, and criticism will come at him hard and fast.
“[He is a] very good fast bowler for shorter formats and one-dayers because he understands the length. I think he does a great job in death overs, in powerplay and he can swing the ball both ways. But you know, in Test cricket, you have to bowl longer spells. You need pace because the batters aren’t trying to hit you,” Akhtar said. “Length becomes irrelevant. You struggle if the ball doesn’t seam or reverse along with that lack of pace. When you start struggling, then people start questioning.”
Bumrah bowled a wicketless spell of six overs (three maidens and eight runs) on the rain-marred day at the Gabba, on a pitch that seemed flatter than what India must have expected after winning the toss and opting to bowl first. Australia ended the 13.2 overs at 28/0.
