Shardul Thakur slams workload management critics, says players are taken for granted

India’s all-rounder, Shardul Thakur, slammed workload management critics and said the players are taken for granted. The Indian team has a hectic schedule all year, and they are expected to deliver at all times amid the lofty expectations.

Recently, Jasprit Bumrah played three out of the five Test matches against England, and his workload management was questioned by a lot of cricket experts.

“A lot of times we are taken for granted and the management is not to the highest level,” Thakur said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“No one actually comes and asks us how our body feels after playing for so many months. But yes, I have been managing my body with physios, S&Cs (Strength and Conditioning coaches), doing constant work. And it’s about playing cricket. I’m not saying that you keep pulling yourself out of playing the games. But frequent breaks here and there are good for the body,” he added.

Thakur said the workload management is not a concern when players are on the field and they give their absolute best.

“Once you enter the game, you can’t be talking about workload management because then the game situation also takes over,” he said. “When you go into the game, you’re expected to give your best. Whatever you have in your tank, you have to give it all.”

“And I believe you shouldn’t be shying away from coming in and hitting the deck hard in the game, keep doing those efforts. Yes, when you go out of the ground and when you’re resting back home or you have those breaks in between the game, that’s where you try to manage your bodies and try to manage your load. If you’re not having too much load in the game, then of course you can push yourself in the nets also. But if you’re having a big amount of load in the game, then you can take it a little bit easy in the nets.”

Thakur recently led the West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal against Central Zone and scored 64 runs but went wicketless.