Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management was one of the most popular topics of discussion during the five-match Test series between India and England, which concluded nearly a month ago with a series-leveling victory for the Shubman Gill-led visitors at The Oval. The 31-year-old speedste Jasprit Bumrah had played all 12 games for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League earlier this year since his return from a back injury that he had suffered in January towards the end of the tour of Australia.
Jasprit Bumrah, however, played only three out of five Tests in England in order to manage to rigours of five-day cricket. He skipped the second and fifth Tests at Edgbaston and The Oval respectively – both of which were won by Gill and Co. He also looked slightly off-colour in this series, finishing as the fourth-highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets. What was especially concerning was his pace gradually dropping over the course of the series.
Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management- A selection dilenma or a thoughtful strategy
There is hard talk flowing about Jasprit Bumrah not playing the entire series , amidst the euphoria of the Indian cricket team’s remarkable win over England in the recent Oval Test, where the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar series ended 2-2, . That Jasprit Bumrah would not be part of all five Test matches was known before the first ball of the opening Test at Leeds was bowled.
Eyebrows were raised initially, but it didn’t take time for rage to set in when Jasprit Bumrah didn’t play the second Test at Birmingham, where India needed him to neutralise England’s series lead. Luckily for the visitors, a historic victory was achieved in Birmingham — their first at the venue in India vs England rivalry. Jasprit Bumrah played the third Test at Lord’s, but his seven scalps in the Test went in vain.
The fourth Test was drawn at Manchester, where Jasprit Bumrah played. Hopes were raised that the world’s most feared fast bowler would figure in the series-decider at the Oval, but he didn’t.
Critics refused to belt up, even as some allowances should be made for the danger of breaking down, which could lead to greater harm to our fast bowling treasure’s body. India got lucky again as others in the Mohammed Siraj-led bowling attack stepped up to guide India to a famous win on Monday. Amidst the heartburn over Jasprit Bumrah, it was the best possible end for India.
Moreover,Jasprit Bumrah is a three-format player. And not just any three-format player but inarguably the best in the world, which means every team wants him in the playing XI as often as possible. Seen through that lens, Bumrah’s 48 Tests are actually quite sizeable. And it’s not as if he’ll stop at that number either.
In the England series, by a strange quirk of fate, India won the two Tests in which Bumrah was rested. Predictably, that meant people drew a correlation between these two events. It should be emphatically said therefore, that an Indian Test XI with Bumrah in it will always be better than one without him in it. India did win the two Tests he didn’t feature in, but that’s just how cricket goes sometimes: the conditions are different, other players’ form is different, there might be a dose of luck that wasn’t there.
Even in defeats, Jasprit Bumrah averages 26 with the ball, which is just astounding. He is better than the par figures in an Indian attack on every single metric across wins, draws or defeats. Looking at the batting is even more instructive. In Test match wins Bumrah has been a part of, India’s collective batting average has been 33.4. In defeats, that number plummets to 21.8. And in the handful of draws, it’s 43.0. The conclusion is inescapable: batting collapses have been a big part of India’s defeats.
While many criticized the absense of Jasprit Bumrah in all important Oval test, Former Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun has advised Jasprit Bumrah to skip IPL and prioritize Test cricket.
Bharat Arun orders Jasprit Bumrah to skip IPL and prioritize Test cricket ahead of WI series 2025
Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun is in favor of ace players like Jasprit Bumrah skipping the IPL if it means they can be fit for an international series lined up afterwards. Arun said the message will have to come from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the players will also need to be ‘adequately compensated’ for their time, but it would help maintain their long-term fitness.
The comments come amid the debates that have followed Bumrah everywhere since the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He picked up a serious back injury in January, made his comeback during the IPL, and featured in 12 games straight as the Mumbai Indians reached the second Qualifier. As the season’s end was delayed to the cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan, the England Test series started only weeks later.
 Jasprit Bumrah (and captain Shubman Gill and chief selector Ajit Agarkar) declared beforehand that he’d play only three of the five Tests. That’s what he did, even if it meant missing the final game with the series on the line. Now, he’s back available for the Asia Cup 2025, again in T20 format, which begins in September.
“Definitely, this (resting players during IPL) would help,” Arun told The Times of India.
“Especially when you want to preserve bowlers. Like, it’s okay for a batter or a spinner to play all formats. But for a fast bowler, yes — playing too much cricket doesn’t give enough time to work on the physical front. So yes, this definitely can be looked into. People like Bumrah or any other bowler we feel is very important for a particular series can be rested, and they can also be adequately compensated,” he added.
“If he’s properly compensated and then told by the BCCI, because he’s on contract, that we want you to work on this particular aspect of your game, I think that’s fair enough,” Arun added.
Arun cited the examples of Cricket Australia and how players like Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are happy to skip IPL if an international series is on the line. Indians have never done such thing, though.
Jasprit Bumrah played the first Test match at Headingley, missed the second, and featured in the third and fourth Tests. The right-arm bowler delivered 119.4 overs during the series. Jasprit Bumrah claimed 14 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls, at an average of 26.00 and a strike rate of 51.28.
The Men in Blue, led by Shubman Gill, won two matches when Bumrah was in the playing XI. The series between India and England concluded in a 2-2 draw.Jasprit Bumrah has represented India in 207 international matches across formats, taking 457 wickets at an average of 20.63, including 17 five-wicket hauls. He will next play for India in the 2025 Asia Cup, starting September 9 in the UAE.
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