"Prepare him for surgical strikes a few times a year" - Former India coach's interesting advice for Jasprit Bumrah amid ENG vs IND 2025 series

Former Team India strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai believes the injury-prone Jasprit Bumrah needs to be handled smartly with periodic surgical strikes, given his fitness issues. The ace pacer's workload management plan has dominated the conversations around the ongoing England-India Test series.

With frequent injuries sidelining him throughout an otherwise stellar career, Bumrah was due to play in only three out of the five Tests in England. The move has drawn criticism from a few former players, who believe the speedster must play all the time when fit.

In an interview with the Indian Express ahead of the fourth Test at Manchester, Soham Desai opened up on handling Bumrah, saying:

"Bumrah is an asset and needs to be handled smartly. A small team needs to handle him, prepare him for surgical strikes a few times a year and be smart around him at other times. I have been with him since 2014, when he was on RTP from his ACL injury, from his Gujarat Ranji Trophy days."

He added:

"He is special, a gifted guy who has worked immensely to become one of a kind. To manage guys like him we need a cohesive, collective and collaborative approach with a long-term vision driving the decisions, and ideally with great consistency in personnel around him."

Bumrah sat out the second Test of the ongoing series at Edgbaston and has played the first and third Tests. Despite him producing five-wicket hauls in the two matches played, Team India suffered losses on both occasions. They won the lone outing Bumrah missed at Edgbaston by a massive 336 runs.

"He was devastated and unmotivated" - Soham Desai on Mohammed Siraj

Soham Desai admitted pacer Mohammed Siraj was devastated and unmotivated after being left out of the Indian white-ball side ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy. However, Desai highlighted that the relationship he built with the 31-year-old helped keep the pacer fit and ready for the future games. Siraj missed out on India's triumphant 2025 Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai.

When asked about keeping players dropped ready for the future, Desai cited Siraj's example at the start of the year, saying (via the source above):

"Whether they are prepping for an ongoing series or they are in the loop to be featured in the upcoming one, they need to be on a plan to be fully ready. This happens round the year. Siraj had a tough start to the year. He was devastated and unmotivated. In these moments, the relationship built over the years comes into play."

Siraj has been in excellent form in the ongoing England series, leading all bowlers from both teams with 13 wickets.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran