“I was reading Manjrekar's piece…,” Aakash Chopra defends Jasprit Bumrah amidst criticism over 'workload management'

Bumrah played three out of five Tests on the tour of England to manage his workload.

Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management during the recently held Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy was a major topic of debate. The Indian team management had confirmed before the England tour that star quick would only participate 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.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, former cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra weighed in on the debate, citing that Bumrah should not play all matches in order to maintain his fitness.

Chopra went on to say that the right-arm pacer’s future in the Test format is neither a moral nor an ethical debate.

"I was also reading Sanjay Manjrekar's piece. In the Hindustan Times, he wrote that the team shouldn't adjust for Bumrah and, instead, Bumrah should adjust for the team. I know there are plenty of opinions as to what should be done. I will be honest, I don't think he will play all Test matches," Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

"He is going to pick and choose. Whether it's right or wrong, it's not a moral or ethical debate, is what I think. If you have a player of that level available, play him whenever he can," he added.

Chopra argued that Bumrah's 'pick and choose' policy could have been an issue if he was a batter, and urged everyone to not push him towards premature retirement.

"Jasprit Bumrah, as a bowler, you can adjust the bowling combination very easily. It doesn't make a difference. If Bumrah had been a batter, a No. 4 or an opener, and had said that he would play two matches and won't play after that, then it's a problem. Bowlers need to be rotated in any case in a series of three or four Tests," he said.

"There is no bowler like Bumrah. Don't push him forcibly towards early retirement because he is 24-carat pure gold. He is the Kohinoor diamond. The longer he plays, the better it is. I don't think he will play too much Test cricket, but for however long he plays, I would say hold onto it. That's just my feeling."

Jasprit Bumrah picked up 14 wickets at an average of 26 in three appearances against England, which included a couple of five-wicket hauls.