'No one is bigger than the game of cricket' - Manoj Tiwary criticises Jasprit Bumrah for his 'pick and choose' approach [Exclusive]

Former Bengal skipper and India batter, Manoj Tiwary, who represented the national team for a brief period before announcing his retirement in 2023, gave his take on Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management in an exclusive interview with CricTracker.

The 39-year-old expressed his concern over the pacer’s pick-and-choose approach in Test matches. Bumrah recently featured in only three Tests during the series against England, a decision that triggered immense debates. Tiwary questioned whether it is right for star players to sit out selectively while others continue playing across formats without such choices.

He also stressed upon batting stalwart Virat Kohli’s decision to retire from Test cricket in May 2025. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill, who was recently named India’s Test skipper and vice-captain for the upcoming Asia Cup, has been increasingly seen as a long-term leader. While Tiwary pointed out Gill’s potential to captain India across all three formats in the near future, but also stressed the challenges that would come along with the responsibility.

Excerpts

Do you believe it’s fair for players like Jasprit Bumrah to ‘pick and choose’ matches as part of workload management?

See, when you know there are a couple of things which has happened in England which I thought we missed a trick as far as our strategy is concerned. So first of all, in my opinion, if a player is not fit for a five-Test series, when you know beforehand, then obviously, you will not pick that individual. Why will you not pick that individual? Because no one is bigger than the game of cricket. And it should be told to everyone, irrespective of whether he's Jasprit Bumrah, whether it is Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, or anyone in this world. No one is bigger than the game of cricket. If the team management knows or the selector knows that he's not going to survive for five Tests on a trot, he should not be picked. And the second reason is we would have understood if the backup was not there, the bench strength was not there, then obviously you want to take Jasprit Bumrah because you know there is no other bowlers who are ready to take over international cricket. But when you know you have a bench strength, when you have a pool of fast bowlers who are really doing well, then obviously he should not have been picked in the first place.So that's my take. And also, before the series, it was told in the media that he's going to only play three Tests. Tell me one thing, why would you want to give your insights to the opposition leader or opposition team? So England knew that Bumrah is going to play only three games. So they prepared and they got more confident, although they lost out on winning the series by their own mistakes, but why would you tell them beforehand? Those are the things which I think was missed by selectors and Team India as well.

Do you think Virat Kohli announced his Test retirement at the right time?

No way. So he could have easily played for another three years minimum and four years. It was very surprising and shocking for all the cricket fans, including me as well, because all we knew that he's so physically fit and he was preparing himself for the England series. I don't know what happened. What is the story behind the scenes? I think he was not feeling like he was wanted in Team India. Only he can say. I think he will not come out and ever say this thing in public forum because the human he has become, he has evolved as a human being, I think he is very happy with what God has given to him. He is becoming spiritual as well. When someone becomes spiritual, they just leave all these things aside and focus on the present. They don’t want to talk about the past. He has evolved as a human being; I don’t think he will come forward and ever say what has happened behind the scenes. But as a cricket lover, things that are happening around Team India, the cricketers like us who know a little bit, we all know what’s happening behind the scenes. I think he did not like the atmosphere he was playing in.

Your take on Shubman Gill captaining all three formats in the near future?

See, the coach wants him to be the captain for all the three formats. Obviously, I have liked what he has done in IPL leading Gujarat Titans. There is no doubt about that. He has done really well leading that team. And that captancy has helped him to become a better batsman. So I was observing his batting and responsibility, where in one of the games in IPL, he has taken the team through the line, over the line with his maturity, with his responsibility as a player and as a captain as well. When someone has been given the captancy, sometimes a player’s performance goes high. And we have seen in a number of cases that captaincy burden has let the player, the batter, down as well. But in his case, he has evolved as a batsman with the responsibility of captaincy. He will learn. He could have done much, much better in the Test series in England. I don't go by the results. I go by what he's doing on the field, the decision making on the field, which could have been much, much more better. There are certain incidents or moments which I thought he missed out.But the management, the one who is taking the call, he's grooming him as all three format captain. But personally, I would love to see Shreyas Iyer here leading in the one day international. It's okay to have two captains. And in fact, it is okay to have three captains for three formats, in my opinion, because all these three captains deserve their their captaincy. Suryakumar, obviously, has done really well in T20 internationals. I'll let Shubman be the Test captain, and I'll let Shreyas Iyer come and take over after Rohit Sharma in the one day internationals.