"This definitely can be looked into" - Former India bowling coach's huge statement amid Jasprit Bumrah's workload debate post ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun has said that the national team could consider resting bowlers if a series of great importance is around the corner. He suggested that bowlers who are given a break can be offered compensation for missing those matches to be ready for future games.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach feels bowlers who were given such breaks could be encouraged to improve certain aspects of their game in the downtime. He told The Times of India:

“For a fast bowler, playing too much cricket doesn’t give you enough time to work on the physical front. So yes, this definitely can be looked into (on prioritising series), and people like (Jasprit) Bumrah or any other bowler, who we feel are very important for us to do well in one particular series, we can make sure that they can be rested if there is a series that is nothing, and he can also be aptly compensated for that."

"If he is aptly compensated, and then if he is told by BCCI because he’s on contract, we want you to work on this particular aspect of your game, which I think is fair enough”.

Jasprit Bumrah was picked to play the five-match Test series against England after he played a full Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season for the Mumbai Indians. He played only in three out of the five Tests, taking 14 wickets, including a five-wicket haul at Leeds and Lord's.

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Bharat Arun offers a detailed explanation about workload management for bowlers

A phrase that has gained a lot of importance in Indian cricket in recent times is workload management. Bharat Arun said that that the concept has more to do with what bowlers do after a match, since it depends on the number of overs bowled. He said:

“You are human. There is so much cricket going around. If you want to be the best, especially fast bowling takes a huge toll on you. It is not about not playing; it is about preparing your body to play any kind of cricket. It may be Test cricket, ODIs, or T20s. Preparing you to be successful in that format. In Tests, there is no guarantee as to how many overs I will bowl."

"Overall, in a Test match, you would bowl somewhere between 40-50 overs. Workload management is about what you do post-match because you can’t control how many overs a bowler bowls in a match. Post-match, how do I manage him so that before the next game, he’s fully fit?" Arun added.

The concept of workload management has found negative views from several former Indian players, such as Sandeep Patil, who has referred to it as "nonsense".