The word "workload" has faced heavy scrutiny ever since India toured England for a five-match series. It was not that the word never existed in Indian cricket ecosystem but the chatter around it intensified during the series, which saw India's premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah miss matches to manage his workload.
As Bumrah is all set to make a return to India's T20I setup at the Asia Cup 2025, which will mark his first appearance in the shorter format since the World Cup last year, Irfan Pathan has thrown a hard-hitting question at BCCI. Discussing the subject in a media interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network, Pathan highlighted a similar situation in the Australian camp ahead of the much-anticipated Ashes, which starts in November.
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He namedropped Australia skipper Pat Cummins, highlighting how the pacer has decided to skip matches to manage his workload for cricket's oldest rivalry. However, Pathan posed a serious question, possibly a dig at BCCI over the handling of Bumrah.
"I just have one thing to say, you would have heard recently that Pat Cummins will skip many games to manage his workload for the Ashes. But will Cummins manage his workload during the Ashes? My question is that only," noted Pathan.
"By all means, manage workload, yes. SENA countries are tough places to go and win. There, your main bowlers must play as many games as they can. During the series, a top series, you will not get the result if you look to manage workload there," he added.
Pathan was, however, quick to laud BCCI the way they've have ensured Bumrah remains injury free, calling the set-up "outstanding".
"About the workload, there has been a lot of talk about it. I feel that there are some important players, Jasprit Bumrah or any other fast bowler, you manage everybody's workload. You should as well and the set-up has been outstanding from BCCI and NCA. The workload is managed really well," said Pathan.
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