India’s prime fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is out of the game since September this year due to lower back stress. After months of following the recovery process, the fast bowler is finally fully fit and getting match ready.
However, in the road to recovery, there were a lot of controversies that took pace involving Bumrah. The National Cricket Academy (NCA) refused to to conduct his mandatory fitness test. NCA director Rahul Dravid, along with physiotherapist Ashish Kaushik reportedly met Bumrah and asked the bowler to consult his own set of specialists.
Dravid did not like the fact that Bumrah had his own team of specialists and trainers during his recovery from a stress fracture in his back instead of training at the NCA. The fast bowler wasn’t too keen on training at the NCA and had even travelled to the United Kingdom to consult doctors.
But a source claimed that Bumrah took a break and went to England to consult specialists as instructed. He also said that it was NCA who told Bumrah to return to Mumbai and the decision was not made by him.
“At no point in time did Bumrah act on his own. He was asked to report in Visakhapatnam and bowl in the nets, which he did. He was asked to travel from Visakhapatnam to the NCA in Bangalore, which he did as instructed. The NCA told him that they could not conduct his fitness test and asked him to return to Mumbai, which he did. The decisions were not his.”
“Whatever the controversy, the bowler needs to be left out of it. He’s 24 years old and a prized asset for Indian cricket. People should keep their egos aside and work towards his progress, not create a controversy,” source told Times of India.
The sources also insisted that BCCI should answer when asked why Bumrah didn’t went to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) earlier.
“It is never a cricketer’s decision. A player will only do what he’s told to. If Rahul Dravid saw no point in NCA conducting Bumrah’s fitness, he should tell the same thing to BCCI and it is for them to understand,” he concluded.
Bumrah is currently the number one ODI bowler in the world while he is 6th in the rankings in the longer format of the game.