The 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series will always be remembered for the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah. At times, the Mumbai Indians star bowler looked like a one-man show for Team India, carrying the expectations of over one-billion population on his shoulder.

Bumrah ended up picking up 32 wickets, including three five-wicket hauls and won the player-of-the-series award, despite India losing the series. Bumrah's wicket-haul was so impressive that he became the first Indian fast bowler to pick up 30+ wickets in a series and most wickets by an Indian in Australia.

But the campaign didn't end well for Jasprit Bumrah. After Rohit Sharma was rested for the 5th test, Bumrah was given the captaincy, however, he couldn't bowl in the fourth innings due to an injury. Bumrah's absence started a discussion that the injury was the result of workload on Bumrah during the series. But India's former player, Balwinder Sandhu was not buying into the discussion.

Forget Playing for India

The 31-year-old bowled 151.2 overs across nine innings in five test matches, including 53.2 overs in the Boxing Day test at the MCG. It was the most he has every bowled in a test match for India. A lot of fans and some experts claimed that Bumrah was carrying too much burden, especially in the absence of Mohammad Shami.

However, former India player and 1983 World Cup winner Balwinder Sandhu, ripped apart the "workload theory".

"Workload? How many overs did he bowl? 150-something, right? But in how many matches or innings? Five matches or nine innings, correct? That comes down to 16 overs per innings or 30 overs per match. And he didn’t bowl those 15-plus overs in one go. He bowled in spells. So, is it a big deal?," Balwinder Sandhu told Times of India.

"Workload management is bull****. These are Australian terms, created by Australians. Workload management is nothing. I don’t agree with this. I come from an era when cricketers used to listen to their bodies and no one else. I don’t agree with this at all," Sandhu told the Times of India," he added.

Better to go back and play T20s

Balwinder Sandhu was also not having Bumrah's statement when he said that if he can't bowl 20 overs in a test match then he should really quit the test matches and focus on the 20-over game. If this does happen, then it can seriously impact India's chances of winning the WTC Final in the near future. 

"Bowling 15 overs in a day, and that too in different spells, is not a big deal for a bowler. You’re not bowling on all five days of a Test match. He took three or four spells to bowl those overs. Today, you have the best physios, the best masseurs, and excellent doctors to take care of your body. If a bowler can’t bowl 20 overs in an innings, he should forget about playing for India."

"If you want to represent India, you should have the strength to bowl at least 20 overs in an innings. If you can’t, then it’s better to go back and play T20s, where you only need to bowl four overs. Even those four overs are bowled in three spells," he added.

 

"We used to bowl 25–30 overs in a day. Kapil (Dev) has bowled long spells throughout his career. Your body and muscles get conditioned when you bowl, bowl, and bowl. So, I don’t agree with this workload management concept," he said.