SCG Test – Day 2 – Jasprit Bumrah leaves stadium midway, probably taken for scans

There is an injury cloud around Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah, who left the field after playing just one shot after lunch on the second day of the New Year’s Test in Sydney. Shortly after 2 p.m. local time, he was seen out of his white testing clothes, leaving the locker room with the team doctor and a security guard.

Bumrah’s workload during this tour has raised concerns. He bowled 152.1 overs in nine innings, picking up 32 wickets at 13.06. He surpassed Bishan Bedi’s record for the most wickets taken by an Indian bowler while touring Australia and was also climbing up the all-time list.

Bumrah had spent three of the last five overs of the morning session off the field. He had returned for the last two overs and resumed bowling for India after lunch. He started by beating Alex Carey’s bat with his first ball, but his speed was reduced, from the early 120s to the early 130s (km/h). Bumrah left the field immediately after playing and was not seen until there was footage on the broadcast of him leaving the SCG in a car.

At the end of the Melbourne Test, where he bowled 52 overs, his most in a Test match, Rohit Sharma had mentioned that there was a fear of over-bowling him.

India does not have a designated vice-captain – Bumrah was actually the vice-captain and took charge of the team when Rohit decided to withdraw from the final Test match due to his poor form. It looked like Virat Kohli had taken the lead for the middle session of the second day. India must win the Sydney Test to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“If someone is in such great form, you want to try and maximize that form as much as you can,” Rohit had said. “And that’s what we tried to do with Bumrah.

“But there comes a point where you have to take a step back and give it a little extra breathing space as well. So we were very careful.

“I was very careful. I talk to him about how he feels and stuff like that. So yes. These things need to be handled carefully. And I try to do that on the ground.

Bumrah had already spent a year out of the game in 2022, recovering from a stress fracture in his back.