Former Indian player Balvinder Singh Sandhu shut down the criticism of veteran pacer Jasprit Bumrah for choosing games to manage his workload as well. Sandhu also questioned why batters taking breaks between games without any injury reasons haven’t come under similar scrutiny over the years as well. Notably, Bumrah missed two out of the five Tests in the recently concluded tour of England due to workload management.

Sandhu, in his column for Mid-Day, added: “In these seven years, how many batsmen have gone without injury breaks? How many have opted out of a series quietly? Nobody really questions them. But when it comes to a fast bowler, everyone seems ready to pounce. The truth is — fast bowling is brutal.”

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“Someone like Bumrah generates pace, not from a long run-up, but from sheer strength. And when you rely on strength, your muscles are bound to suffer wear and tear. Compare Bumrah to legends like Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram, Richard Hadlee, or Malcolm Marshall. They all had smoother biomechanics and long careers, but even they weren’t spared from injuries,” he further added.

However, Balvinder Sandhu also backed Jasprit Bumrah and the other Team India pacers, citing data from the last seven years as well.

“Jasprit Bumrah has had an average rest of just 3.2 days for every playing day across the last seven years, while Mohammed Siraj has had 3.5 days, and Mohammed Shami, 3.7. And remember — both Bumrah and Shami have also missed matches because of injuries. That only makes these statistics even more telling. If we added first-class or other domestic games, the workload would be much heavier. I didn’t have that data which means, we’re only looking at half the picture. Thus, it’s easy to criticise these pacers who have carried the load for India over the years, but when you see the actual numbers, one realises how punishing the life of a fast bowler is,” Balvinder Sandhu concluded.