"You cannot use any car for any situation" - Former India S&C coach's massive statement on Jasprit Bumrah's workload management

Former India Strength and Conditioning (S&C) coach Soham Desai opened up on pacer Jasprit Bumrah's workload management. He used an interesting analogy to explain why workload management is required and is important.

In an interview with Times of India Sports, Soham Desai explained how one would use different cars to reach different destinations, and similarly, one needs to pick and choose fast bowlers for important events and tournaments.

"Assume that you have five cars in your garage. You have three destinations to reach. One is Mumbai, one is Delhi, one is Leh. So you will pick the most rugged, strong, most robust, and resilient car to go to Leh. Then you will pick a car which is comfortable to go to Delhi. You will pick a car very fast and quick to go to Mumbai. I am sitting in Gujarat so that is my angle of thinking," he said. (5:00)

"Likewise, when you see five fast bowlers, five tournaments in a year, and three formats with two-three events being monumental events, and two-three series being not so important, you pick and choose your fast bowlers, your cars, to reach those destinations and achieve your goals. When you have to think like this for 10 years or 15 years, you have to be smart with the cars you have. You cannot use any car for any situation at any time," he added.

While it is argued that players need to be available to play for the country, the former India S&C coach reflected that it is the very reason why workload management is needed. He stated that while people get emotional and patriotic, these decisions are taken so that the team can be in a position to win big tournaments and trophies.

Talking about India's star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, he labelled him as a generational talent. Given Bumrah's uniqueness and his achievements, Soham reckoned that the pacer's case would always be discussed no matter what.

"Bumrah is a generational talent. He is an outlier. He is a freak of nature. He is someone who will always be discussed. Even for 50-100 years to come, his case will be discussed because of the uniqueness he brings to the table with his action, bowling, his mindset, his body, the impact, what he has done and gone on to achieve. There will be no right or wrong opinion in this, people will keep sharing their views," he reflected. (8:01)

Bumrah will be in action for India in the Asia Cup 2025. The Men In Blue begin their campaign against the UAE on Wednesday, September 10, in Abu Dhabi.

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Former India S&C coach on Hardik Pandya's load during training

In the same interview, Sohan Desai revealed star India all-rounder Hardik Pandya's load during training. His load is almost equivalent to that of Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami, or Bumrah while bowling and to that of Virat Kohli while batting in the nets.

"His load in bowling is the same as Siraj, Shami, or Bumrah or maybe 70 percent of them and maybe around 60-70 percent as Virat Kohli in batting. I'm talking about preparation, not the game load. So imagine the workload and physical load that he is facing in preparing for a series. That is why we need to address these cases differently. You need to step back a little and see every case as it is for the subjective nature that they present," he said. (10:08)

Several Indian cricketers, including Hardik Pandya, have been prone to injuries. Soham lauded them and called them champions for dealing with injuries and always coming back from setbacks. They take their training and fitness seriously at all times.

He revealed one such instance from the 2019 World Cup, where former India captain Virat Kohli and former head coach Ravi Shastri directed to get all players to a particular fitness level before the tournament began.

"During Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri time, they directed Shanker Basu to get fitness to a level leading into 2019 World Cup. Numbers were agreed upon with all the stakeholders involved, and they wanted to keep it a serious affair so that people leading into that World Cup come to a particular level, and then we play the World Cup. So it became a selection criteria," he stated.

However, he added that the Yo-Yo test was used even after the World Cup and was not a selection criteria as such but a fitness assessment parameter.