Legendary Australian cricket team fast bowler Glenn McGrath believes that Jasprit Bumrah needs to work harder off the field in order to prolong his playing career. The star India pacer has faced a lot of fitness challenges in the recent years, In a recent interaction, McGrath said that Bumrah has found some ways to manage his stress but because of his speed and technique, he needs to be smart in his approach. The legendary pacer even used his own example and said that he had a bigger ‘fuel tank’ than Bumrah as his speed was lower.

“He puts more stress on his body than the other bowlers. He has found ways to manage it, but unfortunately not all the time. He has done it before (making a comeback from injury), he will know better than anyone (about) the recovery time, the time in the gym. He is not as young as he used to be, so he has to be smarter about what he does,” McGrath told Times of India.

“He has to work even harder off the field. Being a fast bowler is like driving a car. If you do not top it up with fuel, you are going to run out of fuel sooner or later. My fuel tank was bigger than Jasprit’s because I did not bowl as quickly as him. These guys know how they work at their best. If India are under the pump, they need him,” he added.

Bumrah is likely to miss the initial rounds of the IPL 2025 matches for Mumbai Indians as the star pacer is still recovering from the lower back injury that rendered him out of action since January.

Bumrah suffered the injury during the second day of the fifth Test against Australia at Sydney and did not bowl in Australia’s second innings where they chased 162 successfully to emerge a six-wicket winner.

Bumrah, who had taken 32 wickets from five matches in that series, has been sidelined ever since, and has also missed India’s victorious Champions Trophy campaign.

He was named in India’s provisional squad for the ICC showpiece, but could not attain the optimum fitness level in time, as mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was drafted into the side.

“His recuperation is going well. But at this stage it is better to give him some more time to return to peak fitness, considering India’s Test series against England in June,” a source close to the development told PTI.

(With PTI inputs)