'Not more than 12-13 overs a day' - Sourav Ganguly on Jasprit Bumrah's workload management during England Tests
"You’ve got to look after him and not make him bowl more than 12 or 13 overs," Ganguly said.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly warned the Indian team against overusing the talismanic Jasprit Bumrah and advised them to manage his workload during the high-voltage five-match Test series against England.
The Gujarat pacer carried the bulk of the load during the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia, where he picked up 32 wickets at an average of 13.06 from 151.2 overs. He won the Player of the Series award, but excessive workload meant that he suffered a back injury by the time the final Test in Sydney arrived, ruling him out of the 2025 Champions Trophy campaign.
Ganguly, who served as the BCCI president from 2019 to 2022, suggested that the new Test captain, Shubman Gill, should not employ Bumrah for more than 12 or 13 overs in a day.
"You’ve got to look after him and not make him bowl more than 12 or 13 overs," Ganguly mentioned as quoted by RevSportz.
Ganguly opined that instead of overworking Bumrah, the Indian team management should look to use workhorse options like Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh, who is yet to make his debut in Test cricket.
“I believe four fast bowlers are essential. In this setup, others will have to be the workhorses — like Siraj, Arshdeep,” he added.
In Mohammed Shami's absence, Siraj will have to take a lot of responsibility, especially if Bumrah has to miss a Test or two to manage his workload. Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna are the other frontline pacers in the lineup, while Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy have been chosen as seam-bowling all-rounders.
Kuldeep Yadav is the lone specialist tweaker in the 18-man squad, which has Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja as spin-bowling all-rounders.
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The first Test is set to begin on Friday, June 20, at Headingley, Leeds. India will play a four-day warm-up game at the Kent County Cricket Ground in Beckenham from June 13 to June 16 before heading over to Leeds for the start of their 2025-2027 World Test Championship (WTC) campaign.
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