Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh came in support of the star pacer Jasprit Bumrah after he faced a lot of criticism for his workload management in the England tour. It was already told that in the five-match test series against England, Bumrah will be playing only three tests. Keeping that in mind, the management kept him out for the final test match at the Oval, which was even the series decider. In the three tests he played, he took two five-wicket hauls but did not create the impact he is capable of. It was Mohammed Siraj who turned out to be the game changer in the series, playing all five tests and turning out to be the leading wicket taker in the series.
However, when the series ended, many cricketers blamed Bumrah for picking and choosing matches in the name of managing his workload.
To this, Harbhajan defended Bumrah amid all these questions and criticism over his absence in the final test against England. He stated that Bumrah knows his body limits, especially after injury, and described his workload as carrying the bowling burden of the whole team.
He said,
"I don't know how much pain he (Jasprit Bumrah) is suffering from. But what I do know is that he is a very honest man. He knows about his body. He knows how much load his body can take and how much it can't. He has just come back after an injury. A lot of them are asking what "workload" means. Workload means when a bowler like Bumrah bowls on his own like he did in Australia. That is called workload because he is taking the load of others as well."
Harbhajan also highlighted the physical burden that is handled by fast bowlers and stated that Siraj has recently gone through that, but he can't do that for the entire year.
He said,
"Siraj did it recently, but he can't do that for a whole year. There can come a series when you feel like you need to put in the extra effort and need to take a toll on the body. Bumrah did that in Australia, and in the end, he broke down. Siraj took it as well, and let's hope that he does not break down. I think a player's honesty is most important in this regard."