Workload Management Is Bullshit: Ex-India Pacer Sandhu Slams Concept
Former Indian cricketer Balwinder Sandhu has termed workload management in contemporary cricket "bullshit," branding Australians for this Concept which, he feels, limits participation of players to the game. Harsh comments by Sandhu have reignited controversies over fitness and availability of cricketers.
Speaking at an event recently, Sandhu said, "Workload management is just a lot of bunkum. It's just an excuse to hide behind the players. In our time, we played back-to-back matches without complaining, and it made us tougher." He said that more consistent match play, and not rest, will build endurance and improve performance under pressure.
Indeed, in the not-so-distant past, workload management-by resting players for some series or format-has avoided injuring and burning them out. Still, critics such as Sandhu believe it kills the player's rhythm and competitive fire.
According to him, even the legendary cricketers like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar were playing cricket with only rotation policies but not with any specialist periods for resting. "If they could manage the stress and the fixture, why cannot today's player?" he wondered.
Sandhu's comments, challenging the very foundation of the approach, open up discussions on whether it is really necessary in modern cricket as cricket boards around the world begin embracing workload management to extend careers and reduce injuries.
