Former Indian fast bowler Karsan Ghavri has urged Jasprit Bumrah to take a break for five-six months and even a year and come back fit as a fiddle. Bumrah recently played an ODI for India after a long hiatus when he featured for the Men in Blue against England.

The ace pacer played two ODIs against the hosts but was ruled out of the third ODI due to a knee injury. Furthermore, Bumrah has been ruled out of the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Auqib Nabi Dar has been named as Bumrah’s replacement for the tour.

Ghavri said on Mid-Day, “Bumrah should take a break for five-six months or even a year, and get back to 100 per cent fitness. The issue is that he goes into tournaments even if he’s half-fit and then, due to workload management, halfway through, there’s a breakdown. This is unnecessary. Only if he can manage his workload throughout a tournament, should he be included in the team.”

“Shami and Bhuvi have been playing consistently in the IPL without injuries and should return to the national set-up. Selectors should consider them. All fast bowlers face niggles or injuries, but Bumrah has been on and off for the last two-three years. He has hardly played an entire series. That’s not a good sign for him or for the country.”

On the other hand, former Indian pacer Raju Kulkarni said the team management should only consider playing Jasprit Bumrah in Test cricket.

“I don’t think Bumrah can sustain playing all formats. The team management must consider playing him only in Tests as that’s a critical format. Though he may want to play IPL, T20Is and ODIs too, it’s not viable. For this reason, it will be great if Mohammed Siraj can get the support of senior pacers like Shami and Bhuvi. Bhuvi should be used in T20Is because he’s done brilliantly in the IPL. And you can rotate Shami and Siraj in Tests. This will reduce the pressure on Bumrah,” said Kulkarni (via the aforementioned source).

Bumrah’s career has been troubled by injuries and he would look to bounce back strongly.