Jasprit Bumrah’s ‘Pick and Choose’ criticism: Why workload management could be key to extending his test career.
Michael Holding’s “play less cricket” advice sounds like the appropriate three words for the current premier pacer of world cricket, Jasprit Bumrah. During an old interview in 2017 on ‘Breakfast with Champions’, the ‘whispering death’ was asked about the plan to preserve lethal pacers. Holding hardly took a second before saying, ‘You can’t turn every day and bowl first.’
He also gave the example of Wahab Riaz’s fiery spell to Shane Watson during the 2015 ODI World Cup quarterfinal in Adelaide. Holding challenged Riaz to bowl at the same pace two days later. That has been the exact case with Bumrah. The 31-year-old has been on the firing line due to missing the fifth Test against England at Kennington Oval.
Before the start of the series, India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, revealed that they would play Bumrah in only three fixtures of the series. The Gujarat bowler played the first game at Leeds before taking a break at Edgbaston. After his second encounter at Lord’s, he turned to Manchester a week later. But with just three days in between the fourth and fifth game, the management decided to opt out of Bumrah at the Oval.
Jasprit Bumrah’s incredible contribution to India across formats
Since his debut, Bumrah has been the fourth leading Test wicket-taker. In 91 innings, the right-arm pacer has picked up 219 red-ball wickets at an average of below 20 and a strike rate of 42.6. During the WTC 2023-25, he finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 77 scalps in 28 innings. He got the rewards at an average of 15.09, which is the best among those who got over 50 wickets.
His class is not limited to only the five-day format. During the ODIs, Bumrah has managed 149 wickets in 88 innings since his debut. That’s the third most during this period in the 50-over format. Moreover, he earned it at an average of just 23.55. During the ODI World Cup 2023, Bumrah was the fourth leading wicket-taker with 20 wickets at an average of under 19.
If these numbers feel impressive, but his record at India’s winning campaign of the T20 World Cup 2024 sounds next to impossible. He finished the event as the second leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets in eight innings at an average of 8.26. His economy rate was just over four, which is ground-breaking in this modern era.
Most of the criticism since the end of the recent England trip has been around Bumrah’s workload management. Many reckoned that he hadn’t bowled a lot in recent times. But the numbers paint a different picture. Since the start of 2024, he has bowled the second-most overs (486.4) in the five-day format.
He always gets compared to the amount of overs Mohammed Siraj bowls. However, the Hyderabad-born has bowled only 13.2 more overs than Bumrah in this period.
Read More: Mohammed Siraj set a prime example by the effort (185.3 overs) he put in ATT 2025
Former players’ view on Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management
It was just after India’s Perth Test victory during the BGT 2024-25 when Bumrah made a cryptic post. He gave a picture with one supporter during the hard days and the entire country in success. He was spot on. Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian captain, questioned the workload management prospect in the game. However, he made it clear that his criticism wasn’t directed at the Gujarat pacer.
“When you are playing for your country, forget the aches and the pains. On the border, do you think that the jawans are complaining about the cold? You are representing 140 crore people, and that is what we saw in Mohammed Siraj.” Gavaskar told India Today.
Another former World Cup winner for the Blue Brigade, Sandip Patil, lashed out at the management. He called the concept ‘nonsense’ and felt players should not pick and play particular games.
“I wonder how the BCCI is agreeing to all this. Is the physio more important than the captain, than the head coach? What about selectors? Are we to expect that the physio will be sitting in selection committee meetings now? Will he decide?” Patil told Mid-day.
Read More: Why BCCI needs to expand the fast bowling contract
Really?? Trolling Bumrah? Hope you aren't among those but If you are, fair to say you have no idea of what you have to endure to become a Bumrah. And you have no appreciation for one of India's greatest matchwinners who, as it turns out, bowls more overs than almost any other…
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 7, 2025
Importance of workload management for Jasprit Bumrah
Many reckon that Jasprit Bumrah should have avoided playing the IPL 2025 to stay fit. But is it a guarantee that he would have played five Tests in seven weeks if he missed this year’s IPL? Even after a year’s break, if a fast bowler bowls 40-45 overs in five days, he will need time off to get back energy. There is no relation to taking a break before the start of the series.
India’s former batting coach, Sanjay Bangar, highlighted that the 31-year-old is more important than Siraj across formats. Four months later, the selectors will again check the pacer’s fitness status, something they may not do with Siraj.
“India’s Test schedule is nicely spread out to optimally use the resources of Bumrah. At home, he may not require the same amount of overs. Going back to three spinners means India won’t have to bowl the same number of overs as overseas.” Bangar said on the ESPNcricinfo Matchday show.
It’s a bit of a debate between quality and quantity. As a captain, it’s a luxury to have Bumrah in the side, especially for the young captains like Shubman Gill. With his smartness and excellent bowling, the Ahmedabad-born could easily set the field positions for himself. When he plays in any condition, he makes the other bowlers look ordinary.
“Now this stat of when he doesn’t play, India does not win. It’s not his mistake. He is a world champion. When he finishes cricket, he will be spoken in the same parlance as Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, and Dale Steyn. It’s a body, he knows what he has gone through. Two back injuries, one nasty ACL he had in 2014.” India’s former wicket-keeper, Dinesh Karthik, expressed this on Cricbuzz.
Bumrah has a huge list of injuries. In 2018, he picked up a thumb injury before going through the lower-back stress fracture a year later. During the BGT 2020-21, he picked up an abdominal strain and had a back injury in August 2022. The back spasm returned after the BGT 2024-25, which ruled him out of action for six months.
The bottom line is very simple with the pacer’s current status. As soon as everyone recognises the necessity of Bumrah taking breaks to build his body, it’s better for them. Otherwise, it won’t be long before he hangs up his shoes from the longest format.
Read More: Bumrah or Rabada: Who is the better Test bowler?
