Kapil Dev urges people not to compare Jasprit Bumrah with him

India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has urged people to not draw comparisons between him and India’s gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. After Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the second innings in the SCG Test against Australia, there were comparisons between him and Kapil Dev’s workload.

Bumrah injured his back after bowling a total of 153.2 overs on the Australian tour in the five-match series. The ace bowler bagged 32 wickets in five Test matches at an impressive average of 13.06.

Dev reckons it is not prudent to compare the workload of Jasprit Bumrah with previous generation bowlers. On the other hand, Kapil Dev bowled 284 overs and Manoj Prabhakar bowled 254 overs on the 1991-92 tour of Australia but that series was played over a longer period.

“Please do not compare (me with Bumrah); you cannot compare one generation with another. The boys of today score 300 runs in a single day, which didn’t happen in our time. So, don’t compare,” Kapil told media.

On the other hand, 1983 World Cup-winning bowler Balwinder Singh Sandhu slammed Jasprit Bumrah’s workload discussion. 

“Workload? How many overs did he bowl? 150-something, right? But in how many matches or innings? Five matches or nine innings, correct? That comes down to 16 overs per innings or 30 overs per match. And he didn’t bowl those 15-plus overs in one go. He bowled in spells. So, is it a big deal? Workload management is bull**,” Sandhu said on TOI.

“During our time, we bowled 25–30 overs daily. Kapil (Dev) bowled long spells throughout his career. Your body and muscles get conditioned when you bowl, bowl, and bowl. So, I don’t agree with this workload management concept.”

Bumrah is expected to miss the group stage of the Champions Trophy due to back injury.