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Bumrah bowled a total of 151.2 overs for India in the 2024-25 edition of Border-Gavaskar Trophy and accounted for the dismissal of 32 Australian batters.
Jasprit Bumrah bowled 151.2 overs for India in the 2024-25 edition of Border-Gavaskar Trophy. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Jasprit Bumrah bowled a total of 151.2 overs for India in five Tests of the recently concluded five-match series against Australia. The 31-year-old fast bowler, who accounted for the dismissal of 32 batters, however, didn’t come out to bowl in the second innings of the fifth Test, which India lost by 6 wickets on Sunday, January 5, in Sydney. Bumrah underwent scans for a back spasm on Saturday, and the BCCI is yet to release any official update on his fitness.
After India suffered a 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, many former greats slammed Indian team management for not managing Bumrah’s workload properly and overusing him throughout the series.
But according to former India pacer Balwinder Singh Sandhu, who was part of the Indian team that won the 1983 World Cup, bowling 15-20 overs in an innings shouldn’t be a challenge for any bowler at the highest level.
“Workload? How many overs did he bowl? 150-something, right? But in how many matches or innings? Five matches or nine innings, correct? That comes down to 16 overs per innings or 30 overs per match. And he didn’t bowl those 15-plus overs in one go. He bowled in spells. So, is it a big deal? Workload management is bull****. These are Australian terms, created by Australians. Workload management is nothing I don’t agree with; I come from an era when cricketers used to listen to their bodies and no one else. I don’t agree with this at all,” Sandhu was quoted as saying by Times of India.
“Bowling 15 overs in a day, and that too in different spells, is not a big deal for a bowler. You’re not bowling on all five days of a Test match. He took three or four spells to bowl those overs. Today, you have the best physios, the best masseurs, and excellent doctors to take care of your body. If a bowler can’t bowl 20 overs in an innings, he should forget about playing for India. If you want to represent India, you should have the strength to bowl at least 20 overs in an innings. If you can’t, then it’s better to go back and play T20s, where you only need to bowl four overs. Even those four overs are bowled in three spells.”
“We used to bowl 25–30 overs in a day. Kapil (Dev) has bowled long spells throughout his career. Your body and muscles get conditioned when you bowl, bowl, and bowl. So, I don’t agree with this workload management concept,” he added.
In the 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Pat Cummins, Mohammed Siraj, and Mitchell Starc bowled 167, 157.1, and 153.2 overs, respectively.
