Bumrah claimed 5-83 in the first Test against England in Leeds
South Africa batting great and former captain AB De Villiers has advised the Indian team management to take the example of how the Proteas handled pace legend Dale Steyn’s workload while dealing with a prized bowler like Jasprit Bumrah.
Bumrah has hit the peak of his career, having claimed 77 wickets from 28 Test innings in the last two years at an outstanding average of 15.09. Even when India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia by 3-1, Bumrah was the best player of the series by a mile, claiming 32 wickets from just nine innings.
When he joined Mumbai Indians after four games in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, it inspired the five-time champions to bounce back from four defeats and win six matches in a row and make it to the playoffs.
Bumrah finished the tournament with 18 wickets from 12 matches at an average of 17 at a jaw-dropping economy of 6.67.
MAL
55/0
HKG
52/4
WI
–
AUS
–
RWA
157/5
ML
158/1
Malawi beat Rwanda by 9 wickets
TBC
–
TBC
–
ROM
178/6
LUX
133/10
Romania won by 45 runs
HUN
168/9
AUST
169/6
Austria beat Hungary by 4 wickets
AUST
245/7
LUX
179/5
Austria beat Luxembourg by 66 runs
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
ALZ
88/10
JIHCC
163/4
Jinnah CC Stockholm beat Alby Zalmi by 75 runs
RPH
123/6
MAR
150/4
Marsta CC beat Rising Phoenix by 27 runs
JIHCC
153/9
ALZ
168/4
Alby Zalmi CC beat Jinnah CC by 15 runs
RPH
166/4
JIHCC
78/10
Rising Phoenix beat Jinnah CC by 88 runs
ALZ
100/5
RPH
99/7
Alby Zalmi CC beat Rising Phoenix by 5 wickets
RPH
–
JIHCC
–
HDN
–
ALZ
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
BOT-W
143/6
MWW-W
78/10
Botswana Women beat Malawi Women by 65 runs
EWW-W
40/10
LSN-W
88/9
Lesotho Women beat Eswatini Women by 48 runs
RWA-W
135/7
SLO-W
84/10
Rwanda Women beat Sierra Leone Women by 51 runs
CW-W
88/8
MZW-W
87/8
Cameroon Women beat Mozambique Women by 2 wickets
GUJCC
218/6
SUL
83/7
Gujrat Cricket Club beat Super Lanka by 135 runs
CHK
–
TCC
–
FRC
122/4
KLG
108/6
Fatemi Resources Cricket Club beat KL Gladiators by 14 runs
JBK
80/4
SWCL
106/5
Sky Warriors Cricket Club beat JB Kings by 26 runs
UTC
78/4
MXC
80/2
Maxx Cricket Club beat Utkal Cricket Club by 8 wickets
MKP
75/4
MBMS
73/10
MR KB Putrajaya beat MB Malik Sports UMZ by 6 wickets
FRC
–
MXC
–
JBK
–
MBMS
–
UTC
–
KLG
–
MKP
–
SWCL
–
UAE
141/5
NIG
88/10
United Arab Emirates beat Nigeria by 53 runs
KNY
126/6
NBA
123/2
Kenya beat Namibia A by 3 runs
KNY
–
NIG
–
UAE
–
UGA
–
VMK
–
MMS
–
MAK
154/9
BDS
155/4
Boost Defenders beat Mis Ainak Knights by 6 wickets
ASS
174/4
SGT
173/6
Amo Sharks beat Speen Ghar Tigers by 6 wickets
WIU19-W
67/5
USAU19-W
66/9
West Indies Women U19 beat United States Of America Women U19 by 5 wickets
WIU19-W
–
USAU19-W
–
TBLZ-W
–
BRB-W
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
Match Cancelled
SUR-W
–
TBC
–
IAC
203/4
AAC
207/6
Australia Champions beat India Champions by 4 wickets
PNC
200/4
WIC
151/7
Pakistan Champions beat West Indies Champions by 49 runs
SAC
–
AAC
–
IAC
–
EDC
–
NZ
180/5
SA
177/6
New Zealand beat South Africa by 3 runs
IRE-W
288/9
ZIM-W
191/10
Ireland Women won by 97 runs
Despite his heroics for franchise and country, Bumrah is also in a vulnerable situation due to his back injuries in recent times that needs Indian management to not overuse their premier pacer.
De Villiers suggested that it is better to play Bumrah in all the remaining four Tests of the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy against England and rest him for the white-ball series. He said that is what South Africa did with a gifted pace talent like Steyn who is South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in Tests with 439 wickets from 93 Tests.
“Test cricket is the ultimate form of the game. And this Test series probably would’ve been the one, in my opinion, to get him ready for all five Test matches. That’s what we used to do with Dale (Steyn). Rest him in lesser important T20 and ODI series and get him ready for the big Test series against Australia, England, and India away from home… New Zealand to a certain extent, depending on the rankings at that time,” De Villiers said.
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It is unlikely that India will play Bumrah in all of the five Tests in the series, which also played a huge role in Shubman Gill being appointed the Test captain after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement.
Bumrah was out of the Champions Trophy 2025 in February and March due to a stress-related injury he suffered during the final Test in Australia.
“I don’t know if it was mismanagement or perhaps because he recently got back from injury, sort of saw the IPL as the warmup phase. Maybe, went to the surgeon, who let him know, ‘You can’t play the five Test matches.’” De Villiers added.
Bumrah played the first Test at Headingley and claimed 5-83 in the first innings. The 31-year-old didn’t bowl a lot in the second innings as England won the match by five wickets. He, however, took part in an optional training session ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston beginning on July 2.
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Malaysia won by 10 wickets