Just a day ago, former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar had defended pacer Jasprit Bumrah on his workload issues. However, former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin has not minced words and has asked India's premier pacer to manage his workload issues and play the majority of the games for the country when he is injury-free. The expert also said that he does not buy into the workload management theory and has urged the selectors to always play the best players for India's matches in all formats.
For the unversed, Bumrah played only three of the five Tests against England, which India went on to level the series 2-2. The pacer missed the second & fifth Test. While the visitors managed to win both the Tests he missed, Azharuddin believes things may not necessarily go India's way when they need him badly. In the three Tests of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, he picked up 14 wickets. While Mohammed Siraj ended as the leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets to his name, the fact that Bumrah's wickets came in only the three Tests that he played proves how big a match-winner he is.
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While Azhar applauded the way Siraj and Prasidh Krishna stepped up in the Edgbaston & Oval Tests, the expert stated that keeping Bumrah out when he is not injured is not the right way for India to go.
"If there is an injury issue, then the Board and the player have to decide. However, I feel once you are on the team, you can't pick and choose your matches. There is a workload, but at this level, you must manage it. You are playing for the country. It was a different story that Siraj, along with Prasidh [Krishna] and Akash Deep, rose to the occasion, and we were fortunate that we could win without Bumrah, but what happens if India needs Bumrah badly in a particular situation?" Azharuddin was quoted as saying by Mid-day.
Should Jasprit Bumrah play all Tests during a long Tour?
A lot of experts have weighed in on the workload management topic, and the majority are against Jasprit Bumrah managing his workload. Vengsarkar also went on to state that the pacer should not have played the IPL 2025 season for MI when the England tour was just around the corner after the end of the T20 league. With a five-match Test series frequency not that much, experts felt the premier pacer should have played all five Tests to give India a fair shot at winning the series.
Notably, when Bumrah played all five Tests against Australia Down Under, he broke his back, which required four months of rehabilitation. After that, he played nine games in IPL for MI, bowling 47.3 overs. With IPL now a fixed event every calendar year, the BCCI & franchise owners have a task to keep players fit if any major series is just after the T20 tournament. It remains to be seen if Bumrah plays the Asia Cup 2025 event, starting September 09.
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