Bowlers' workload a big concern, says Mhambrey

'If you look at the last one-and-a-half years, Bumrah is a player who we have missed a lot. We have not decided who is going to play white ball and who red ball but eventually we have to give breaks to our bowlers.'

India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has acknowledged that bowlers' workload management is a big concern for the team management going forward, especially with a busy schedule this year.

Mhambrey said the team management has been working on workload management of players, especially in the wake of constant breakdown of fast bowlers in recent times.

The 51-year-old said India missed Jasprit Bumrah a lot in recent times, and with a jam-packed calendar ahead, a lot of discussions have been going on within the team about bowlers' workload management.

"Injuries and workload of bowlers is a big concern. If you look at the last one-and-a-half years, Bumrah is a player who we have missed a lot. We have not decided who is going to play white ball and who red ball but eventually we have to give breaks to our bowlers," Mhambrey said after India's thumping innings win over West Indies in the opening Test in Roseau, Dominica, on Friday.

"This break also provides us an opportunity to create bench strength. Going forward, we have to take care of bowlers' fitness and workload management."

The former Mumbai and India pacer feels that with the ODI World Cup and Asia Cup lined up this year, it is imperative for the team management to plan bowlers' workload.

"Workload management is one of the important things we have been working on for the last couple of years... obviously we have missed Bumrah and Prasidh who have been part of the set-up," Mhambrey said.

"We have learnt from that... Looking at the schedule we have ahead of us, we play a lot of different formats and in that sense workload management will be important. A lot of discussion has been going on with the captain and in the team management as well," he added.

India's pace spearhead Bumrah has been out of action for nearly a year (September 2022) with a back injury and also underwent a surgery in March this year.

Prasidh Krishna, on the other hand, last played competitive cricket in August 2022 and since then he has been out of action with a stress fracture for which he went under the knife. He missed this year's IPL and has been in rehabilitation.