Stress fracture has nothing to do with Bumrah's action: Nehra

Ashish Nehra, who knows a thing or two about injury management, on Sunday insisted that India's premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah's stress fracture has got nothing to do with his unorthodox action.

Bumrah was recently ruled out of both South Africa and Bangladesh series owing to a stress fracture on his lower back, with a recovery time period of two months due to early detection.

Former India left arm speedster Nehra is confident that Bumrah will be as lethal post his comeback as he was prior to injury.

"Stress fracture is unrelated to action and we must get our concepts clear. He doesn't need to change his action and if he tries to do that, it won't be great. Let me assure you when he comes back, he can bowl with same action, intensity and pace," Nehra told PTI during an interaction.

"His action is not that unconventional as it is made out to be. The alignment of his body at the time of delivery is perfect.

"The only aspect that is not copy book is his left hand (works like a pivot), which doesn't go up. Even then, his action is 10 times better than Malinga. Malinga's knees, back leg bends giving a look of a javelin thrower," said Nehra, known for his indepth technical knowledge.

For someone whose career was plagued by injuries, Nehra feels that it's not always prudent to set a time frame.

"In case of stress fracture there is no time frame. Jasprit might feel good in next two months and may not feel good even after six months. So only the player knows when his body is feeling cent percent match ready," he said.

The rehabilitation is very important as this is a type of back injury that doesn't involve any surgical process.

"Stress fracture doesn't have medication. It's only proper rest and rehabilitation unlike disc injury or any nerve tissue injury," he said.

Nehra feels that an injury like stress fracture can never be apprehended and Bumrah's was the classic case.

"He had a month's break post ODI World Cup. He didn't play white ball format and came for Test matches. But that means workload was well managed but still he had that fracture. Now can you explain why?" he asked.