NEW DELHI: 151.2 overs or 908 deliveries and 32 wickets — these are the astonishing stats of Player of the Series Jasprit Bumrah in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Despite that, Australia regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years. Bumrah’s phenomenal performances Down Under, did however, firmly establish him as one of the most reliable workhorses in modern Test cricket.
The immense workload Bumrah shouldered throughout the series raises concerns about his physical limits.
The 31-year-old pacer bowled over 150 overs, called upon every single day of the tour, either with the ball or bat. His stellar series average of 13.06 and an economy of 2.77 highlight his effectiveness, with best figures of 6/76.
During the fifth and final Test in Sydney, anxiety gripped the Indian camp when Bumrah, who had bowled 10 overs and taken two wickets, left the field during the second session with the physio. He later departed the venue in a car, accompanied by the team doctor and BCCI integrity manager, Anshuman Upadhyay.
Bumrah didn’t return to bowl in the second innings. Instead, he remained in the dugout, missing out on the action as India lost both the Test and the series.
Is the workload catching up with Bumrah?
Former India pacer and 1983 World Cup-winner Balwinder Sandhu believes that bowling 15-20 overs in a Test innings should not be a significant challenge for a pacer 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 this. 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 told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.
“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,” he said.
“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,” the former pacer said.