Former India selector Sandeep Patil has criticized the concept of workload management in cricket, calling it 'nonsense'. He also questioned BCCI's stance on this subject, emphasizing the importance of fitness.

According to Patil, the physio is not supposed to be more important than the captain of the team and a player should be available as and when the team needs his/her services.

Workload management has become prevalent in recent years, aiming to prevent injuries and help players stay fit to play important matches and tournaments.

“I wonder how the BCCI is agreeing to all this. Is the physio more important than the captain, than the head coach? What about selectors? Are we to expect that the physio will be sitting in selection committee meetings now?" Patil said while speaking to Mid-Day.

“Workload management is nonsense. You are either fit or unfit and that’s how we [his selection committee] picked teams. We did not entertain this workload business," he added.

Patil’s comments came in the wake of Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from the fifth Test of the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The Indian team management had confirmed before the England tour that star quick 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 at Edgbaston. Despite India being down 1-2, Bumrah didn’t appear in the series-decider at the Oval.

Meanwhile, reports claim that the selection panel, head coach Gautam Gambhir and BCCI decision-makers are unanimous in their stance to end the practice of players choosing games and series on the pretext of workload management.

“It doesn’t mean that workload management will be thrown out of the window, but a more objective approach is expected shortly. Pacers’ workload needs to be managed, but it can’t be accepted that in the name of workload management, people will miss crucial matches," a BCCI official recently told PTI.