New Delhi: Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has hit back strongly at former cricketer Mohammad Kaif over comments made on social media platform X regarding his workload and bowling pattern in recent matches.

Kaif had suggested that Bumrah was avoiding bowling in the death overs to protect himself from injury, a claim the fast bowler has vehemently denied.

In a post on X, Kaif analysed Bumrah’s usage in matches and wrote:

“Bumrah under Rohit would generally bowl overs 1, 13, 17, 19. Under Surya, in Asia Cup, he bowled a three-overs spell at the start. To avoid injury, Bumrah these days, prefers to bowl while his body is warmed up. 1 over of Bumrah in the remaining 14 overs is a huge relief for batters. Against stronger teams at World Cup, this could hurt India.”

However, Bumrah was quick to dismiss the speculation and directly responded to Kaif’s post with a sharp rebuttal:

“Inaccurate before inaccurate again,” the pacer replied, adding a thumbs-up emoji.

Bumrah, who has been managed carefully by the Indian Cricket Board following a back injury that sidelined him during parts of the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, has only recently made a return to the national setup. He played three out of five Tests against England and returned to the T20I squad after almost a year.

Bumrah's selection was one of the major talking points of the squad selection for the home WI Tests. Bumrah played just three out of five Tests on the tour of England and took 14 wickets with two five-wicket hauls. But during the fourth Test at Manchester, he struggled with his fitness and delivered his worst-ever Test figures of 2/112. During the ongoing Asia Cup, he has not been at his most elite, with five scalps in four matches at an average of 22.00, an economy rate of 7.33 and best figures of 2/18. Bumrah's workload will be a major concern, as the series is scheduled to start on October 2, just over a week after India plays the Asia Cup final on September 28.