Manjrekar said it was poetic justice that India won both the matches that Bumrah didn't play in England.
Jasprit Bumrah has come under the scanner for his workload management in the recently held Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The Indian team management had confirmed before the England tour that ace pacer would only feature in three of the five Tests.
The No.1-ranked Test bowler turned up in the first, third and fourth games and was rested for the second Test, which India won by 336 runs at Edgbaston.
Despite India being down 1-2, Bumrah didn’t feature in the series-decider at The Oval, where the visitors emerged victorious by a narrow margin of six runs to level the series 2-2.
Recently, former cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar also joined the bandwagon of critics, saying it was poetic justice that India won both the matches that Bumrah wasn't a part of and the selectors need to make tough calls with big-name players.
"The game will always show us the mirror, however much we try and gloss over things. It was poetic justice that the two Tests India won were two matches Bumrah did not play."
"This should embolden the Indian selectors to make some hard choices when it comes to big-name players. This series has been a great lesson to them and to us too, the two Tests victories India achieved did not feature Virat (Kohli), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, Rohit (Sharma), (Mohammed) Shami and Bumrah too! It reminded us of the eternal truth of sport and life, no one, however great, is indispensable. And this is how India must handle Bumrah," wrote Manjrekar in column for Hindustan Times.
Manjrekar mince no words as he went on to say that Bumrah shouldn't be considered as the first-choice pick for the Indian Test team if he cannot play more than two matches in a row.
"If he cannot play more than two matches in a row or sometimes even more than one, he must not be your frontline pick."
"Players who are match fit, eager, keen to play and perform should be picked any day for me over a highly skilled player. It will motivate such enthusiastic players even more."
"This is not an idealistic position to take, but it’s the right one for the long-term health of a team sport," said Manjrekar.
"In this series, Akash Deep & Siraj replicated the Bumrah impact in the two wins, of course, this is not likely become a pattern but it should give the selectors the guts to take hard calls on big-name players, just as they do with Kuldeep Yadav."
Manjrekar said that longevity and durability will be important for Bumrah if he wants to serve India's Test cricket in the long run.
"As for Bumrah, of whom I am a fan, if he really wants to serve Indian Test cricket, longevity and durability is an imperative for him, it’s after all, the true test of a great athlete is to still turn up when not 100% fit and deliver."
"Indian cricket must not adjust for Bumrah, Bumrah must. That is, if he wants to. By making some tough choices or working even harder on his fitness, this fitness bar can be raised to whatever levels one wants, like all fast bowling greats have done before him," said Manjrekar.
Bumrah picked up 14 wickets in the three matches he played against England. The star pacer is in contention to be a part of the Asia Cup squad.