According to India batting great Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammed Siraj has “debunked forever this business of workload.” He questioned the idea, claiming that playing for the country should be enough to “forget the aches,” something that troops who protect the country do on a daily basis.
In the just finished drawn series against England, Siraj participated in all five Test matches and bowled 185.3 overs while taking 23 wickets overall.
But as part of his workload management, India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was only available for three of the matches, missing the crucial fifth Test match at The Oval.
But Gavaskar clarified that his criticism was not aimed at Bumrah, stating that his case was more about “injury management” than that.
“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 cold? What did Rishabh Pant show you? He came out to bat with a fracture. That is what you expect from the players. Playing cricket for India is an honour,” Gavaskar told ‘India Today’.
“You are representing 140 crore people and that is what we saw in Mohammed Siraj. I think Siraj bowled his heart out, and he debunked forever this business of workload.
“For five Test matches, non-stop he has bowled 7-8 over spells, because the captain wanted him and the country expected of him,” added the former skipper.
Workload management, according to the 76-year-old, cannot prevent the best team from being fielded.
“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 said.
“I hope that the word ‘workload’ goes out of the Indian cricket dictionary. I’ve been saying that for a long time. And I think that is the one thing that we all should keep in mind that this workload is only a mental thing, not so much a physical thing,” he added.
