Amid concerns about Jasprit Bumrah’s injury and if India could have handled his workload better during their recent five-Test tour of Australia, former captain Kapil Dev has urged people not to compare cricket in his era to today’s game. This comment came after his former teammate Balwinder Singh Sandhu criticized the idea of managing players’ workloads.
Kapil said, “Please don’t compare my time with Bumrah’s. You can’t compare different generations. Today’s players score 300 runs in one day, which we couldn’t do back then.”
Although India lost the series 3-1, Bumrah was the top bowler, taking 32 wickets in five matches at an incredible average of 13.06. He achieved three five-wicket hauls and was awarded Player of the Series. Sadly, Bumrah couldn’t play the last innings of the Sydney Test due to a back injury.
Sandhu also spoke about Bumrah’s situation and said that bowling around 150 overs in five matches is not a big deal. He explained that Bumrah bowled in shorts bursts and that the average of 16 overs per innings or 30 overs per match isn’t excessive. Sandhu added, “Workload management is nonsense. I come from a time when players listened to their own bodies, not to anyone else. I don’t agree with this idea at all.”