Follow UsFormer Indian fast-bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan is not happy with how Jasprit Bumrah was managed during the third Test against England at Lord’s, which India lost by just 22 runs. Pathan believes India overestimated Bumrah’s workload management needs. He also urged them to take a cue from England captain Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, and learn the necessity of "win-over-workload-management."
Chasing 193, India needed 135 runs with six wickets remaining when stumps were drawn on the penultimate day. It was Stokes and Archer who started proceedings on Day 5, bowling tirelessly. The two seamers removed Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Washington Sundar in the first hour, breaking the back of India’s batting line-up.
Playing a Test after four years, Archer bowled 16 overs and picked up three wickets in the final innings, while Stokes delivered 24 overs and claimed the same number of wickets. Notably, Stokes bowled the most overs in the fourth innings.
“Ben Stokes bowled a marathon 9.2-over spell in the morning on Day 5. What a player he is. He bowls, bats, and even executed the crucial run out of Rishabh Pant - yet there’s no talk of workload management,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel, as reported by News18.
“But with India, it’s different. Bumrah bowls five overs and then waits for Joe Root to come out when you need to control the game (in the second innings). It was disappointing. His workload was ‘managed’ despite not having played at Edgbaston. When you’re playing a match, there is no workload - you have to win at all costs. The Indian camp could’ve done that better.
“Archer was playing a Test after four years, yet he didn’t stop. He bowled a six-over spell in the morning and came back for more. Ben Stokes didn’t think about workload at all. If he can bowl nine overs, hum toh peeche rah gaye (our pacers were left behind).”
Bumrah bowled 43 overs in the Test - the most among Indian bowlers - and claimed seven wickets across two innings. Now, there is a possibility that he could be rested for the fourth Test at Old Trafford, starting July 23.
So far, Bumrah has played two Tests in the series, and India have lost both. He was rested for the Edgbaston Test, which India won by a record 336 runs.