'It's Not Fair' Ex-Cricketer Calls Out Team India's Double Standards for Siraj & Bumrah

ENG vs IND: Much before the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy began, Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management gained widespread attention, with both Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill announcing that the pacer spearhead would only feature in three Tests of the five.

India’s squad for the England tour was announced keeping Bumrah’s workload management in mind, covering all the bases with a variety of fast bowlers. Bumrah has played two Tests on the tour thus far, while getting rest in the second encounter at Headingley.

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The team management has done everything in their power to protect their star bowler, as they don’t want him to collapse at the end of the series, like he did in the last Test of the tour Down Under earlier this year.

Following the Lord’s Test defeat, Bumrah’s workload management has once again become a focal point. While the whole focus has been on Bumrah’s workload, and rightly so, nobody is talking about managing Mohammed Siraj’s workload.

© X/BCCI

Siraj is the most overworked bowler in the team after Siraj, having already dished out 109 overs in six innings. Bumrah, in comparison, has bowled 86.4 overs in two Tests.

Former cricketer Aakash Chopra highlighted the Indian team management’s double standards regarding the treatment afforded to the two premier fast bowlers of the team.

“He works very hard. He bowls a lot of overs. Interestingly enough, no one is talking about him, and you feel it's not fair that you talk about everyone, but not about him. However, he gives his 100 per cent. Whenever he comes to bowl, he bowls wholeheartedly and runs in fast,” Chopra said on YouTube.

Chopra’s remarks do have merit. While one pacer is being wrapped in cotton wool, nobody is paying attention to the hard work being done by the other, without complaining.