Irfan Pathan has questioned India’s approach to managing Jasprit Bumrah’s workload. This comes after Ben Stokes gave it his all in the third Test at Lord’s, even after coming back from an injury.
Stokes was Man of the Match for his bravery which helped England win by 22 runs. He bowled 44 overs, the third most he’s ever bowled in a Test. He also scored 44 and 33 with the bat and got Rishabh Pant out in the first innings. Despite concerns about his workload, Stokes pushed himself and bowled 9.2 overs on the morning of the fifth day while England were defending 192. In that time he got KL Rahul out. He continued and bowled a 10 over spell after lunch and ended Jasprit Bumrah’s resistance and helped England take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Bumrah bowled 43 overs and was coming off a rest in the Edgbaston Test. It was planned that the top Test bowler would only play three out of the five Tests to manage his workload. This caution around Bumrah’s playing time comes from a stress reaction in his back during the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney in January. Pathan said if Stokes can bowl long spells consistently, India might have missed an opportunity by not pushing their key player harder.
Ben Stokes bowled 9.2 overs on the morning of Day 5. He is a player who contributes in many ways. He bowls, bats and even gets that crucial run out of Rishabh Pant but no one talks about managing his workload when he bowls. It’s different with India. Bumrah bowls 5 overs and then waits for Joe Root to come out even when you need to control the game. His workload was managed because he didn’t play at Edgbaston. When you’re in a match there’s no such thing as workload,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.Fast bowler Jofra Archer also returned to Test cricket after four years, during which he was mostly injured. Despite having no experience and no recent game time he bowled at 150kph and made life difficult for the Indian batsmen. He bowled with Stokes, got important wickets and finished with 5/105.
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Jofra Archer was playing a Test after four years. He bowled a six over spell in the morning and then came back for more. Ben Stokes didn’t care about workload. He does everything. If he can bowl 9 overs for his country then we didn’t do enough in this area, he said.
