BCCI president should ask IPL franchises to manage workload of important players, says Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri said that the BCCI needs to look after Indian bowlers as multiple bowlers have been facing injuries, and shall be rested for a part of the IPL if that becomes necessary for workload management.

Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to back stress. Deepak Chahar as well was left out of contention for the T20 World Cup after twisting his ankle.

Shastri speaking to Ayaz Menon at a Mumbai Press Club’s ‘Meet the Media Program’, said that it was frustrating for him as well during his coaching tenure with the national squad. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had an elongated injury stint which kept him out of international action for quite a while.

A timeline of Deepak Chahar injuries in 2022: Quadricipe tear, back stress fracture, twisted ankle

“It was the most frustrating thing for me as (India coach), when you lose key players to injuries. We toured England and New Zealand twice. On all those tours, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was injured, where he’d have got a bagful of wickets with his skills.

“Now, you see Chahar has hardly played, and he’s injured. I was looking at the stats, Bumrah has played 5 matches since the last T20 World Cup and he’s injured. So, you’ve got to look at it very seriously, as to why it is happening,”

Shastri explained that workload management is extremely important considering the amount of cricket played and asked the BCCI President to take up the responsibility to talk to IPL franchises about a break for frontline bowlers.

“With the volume of cricket that exists today, it’s extremely important that you get the balance right of how much a player plays. When should he be rested? And there, a (BCCI) president can play a big role. Tomorrow, if a cricketer, for the sake of playing for India, needs to be rested in the IPL for a certain number of games, so be it. Where, a (BCCI) president has to sit with the franchise and explain that he’s extremely important for India first, and then the franchise,” Shastri added.

The bowlers are regularly rested from international tours that do not hold significant importance but play the full quota of the matches during the IPL, many times even after their franchises are out of contention for a playoff berth.

“Discussions can take place with the team management, as to which are the players who need rest, who, if they carry on in this fashion, will be spent forces. And then take that forward to the franchise. In no way getting in the way of the franchise, but in a nice way telling them that he’s an important player for India. National interest is paramount,” Shastri added.

India went ahead with selecting Mohammed Shami as a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah for the T20 World Cup and declaring Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur as reserve bowlers.

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