“I hope that the workload word gets taken out of Indian cricket dictionary” - Sunil Gavaskar takes a dig at Jasprit Bumrah

Former Indian opening batter and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has taken a sly dig at the Indian seamer Jasprit Bumrah, who managed to play only three Tests out of the five games on the England tour to manage his workload.

In an exclusive interview with India Today, Gavaskar stated that the workload word needs to be taken out of the Indian cricket dictionary as he went on to hail Mohammed Siraj’s performance in the five-Test series.

Notably, Siraj was the lone bowler from both teams to play all 10 innings of the five-match series in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, highlighting his exceptional fitness. He went on to bowl a whopping 185.1 overs on the tour, scalping 23 wickets to emerge as the leading wicket-taker.

"Mohammed Siraj debunked this business of workload forever. I hope that the word workload gets taken out of the Indian cricket dictionary. For 5 Test matches, non-stop he has bowled 7-8 overs, because the captain wanted him and the country expected of him," Gavaskar told India Today.

"And that is one thing I think people keep in mind that workload is a mental thing, not a physical thing and if you are going to succumb to people who are talking about workload then you are never going to have your best players on the field for your country," he added.

Furthermore, Gavaskar added that playing for the nation is an honour and every Indian cricketer should forget the aches and pains whenever they wear the Indian jersey and come out for the country, giving out an example of Rishabh Pant coming out to bat with a fractured toe.

"When you are playing for your country, forget the aches and the pains. On the border, do you think that the jawans are complaining about the cold? Here in cricket, give your best for the country, don't worry about the aches and pains. What did Rishabh Pant show you? He came out to bat with a fracture. That is what you expect from the players," he noted.

"Playing cricket in India is an honour. You are representing 140 crore people and that is what we saw in Mohammed Siraj," he concluded.

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