Azharuddin Questions Bumrah’s Workload Management: “You Can’t Pick and Choose Your Matches”

The former India captain is calling for a more strategic approach to managing Jasprit Bumrah, arguing that keeping the star pacer out when he isn’t injured is a risky gamble, even after the success of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.

New Delhi, India – August 12, 2025: Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin has delivered a sharp critique of the team’s workload management strategy for star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, arguing that the current approach is both “absurd” and a risky gamble. With India’s fast-bowling stocks in the spotlight, Azharuddin believes the decision-makers need to find a better way to ensure Bumrah is available when the country needs him most.

Bumrah played in three of the five Tests during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England, and as Azharuddin points out, the games he missed were the ones where India’s pace attack lacked its most potent weapon. While Bumrah still finished as the fourth-highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps, he did so in two fewer matches than the most successful bowler, Mohammed Siraj, whose 23 wickets helped secure a series victory. Bumrah’s performance in the first two Tests, including a five-for at Leeds and a four-wicket haul at Lord’s, proved his invaluable contribution.

However, it was the games he sat out that have become the focus of Azharuddin’s concern. While he applauded Siraj and Prasidh Krishna for stepping up in the matches at Edgbaston and the Oval, he feels that keeping Bumrah out when he isn’t injured is the wrong way to manage the fast bowler.

“If there is an injury issue, then the Board and the player have to decide. However, I feel once you are in 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,” Azharuddin was quoted as saying by Mid-day.

His comments highlight a core dilemma for Indian cricket: how to protect a generational talent like Bumrah without sacrificing his presence in critical moments. While India was “fortunate” to win without him in some matches, Azharuddin’s concern remains: what happens when the team is in a dire situation and needs its best bowler on the field?