My fuel tank was bigger

Australia National Cricket Team bowling great Glenn McGrath has shared his views on the India National Cricket Team modern-day bowling legend Jasprit Bumrah amid his injury woes.

Glenn McGrath stated that Jasprit Bumrah in inferior to him because during his playing days, he had had a ‘bigger fuel tank’ than the Indian pacers.

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Jasprit Bumrah out of action for a long time

Bumrah is regarded as the best bowler in the world and he possesses the ability to single-handedly change the game in his team’s favor. Also, several star batters have openly expressed their fear of facing Bumrah in the matches.

Being the best in the world comes with a cost as sometimes his team gets overdependent and he is forced to over-bowl, which increases the chances of injury with the workload getting disturbed.

Exactly that happened during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 as the premier pacer had to carry his team on his back and in the process, he sustained an injury during the last Test, being unable to bowl in the final innings of the match.

Jasprit Bumrah’s back injury turned out to be more severe than initially expected as he already missed the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and is likely to miss the first few matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Reportedly, Jasprit Bumrah will only get fit in April for the Mumbai Indians (MI), and the exact date of his return to competitive cricket has still not been decided.

He puts more stress on his body than the other bowlers – Glenn McGrath

Speaking about the Indian pace spearhead, Glenn McGrath said that Jasprit Bumrah puts more stress on his body than any other pacer, which leads to him picking up injuries.

He added that although Bumrah somehow finds a way to manage the stress, he needs to be smarter as he is aging.

“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), and 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 the Times of India.

He has to work even harder off the field – Glenn McGrath

The Aussie legend advised Bumrah to put in additional hard work off the field and manage his workload because Team India need him to fully fit whenever they are under pressure.

McGrath also stated that he had a bigger fuel tank than Bumrah because he didn’t bowl as quickly as the Indian pacer.

“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.