The debate over workload management in Indian cricket continues to generate headlines, especially around Jasprit Bumrah. While some argue that modern players need careful scheduling due to the packed cricket calendar, others believe representing the country should take priority. Bumrah’s case is particularly contentious, as he frequently skips international tours but remains a key player in the Indian Premier League.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan criticized both Bumrah and India head coach Gautam Gambhir, drawing comparisons with Australia captain Pat Cummins.
“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,” 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
“𝑫𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑨 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.”
Pathan clarified that he isn’t against managing players’ workloads but questioned the rationale of resting key bowlers for major assignments like the England Test series.
“𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌. 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝑩𝒖𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝑪𝑪𝑰 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑵𝑪𝑨 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Asia Cup X-Factor: Varun Chakravarthy
When asked about India’s potential game-changer in the Asia Cup 2025, Pathan highlighted the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒙-𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Pathan’s comments bring attention to the ongoing tension between player rest, team performance, and major cricket tournaments.
Also Read: Robin Uthappa Reflects on Virat Kohli Ambati Rayudu Row
