Ex-Pak pacer lauds Bumrah's workload management by BCCI and calls out Pakistan 'team culture'

Former Pakistan pacer Umar Gul has praised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for handling and management of pacers including Jasprit Bumrah. The Indian pacer has returned to the shortest format of the game after nearly 14 months. Bumrah's workload management has been a topic of discussion ever since he picked up a second back stress fracture in January 2025 during the Test tour of Australia. The pacer has since played in IPL 2025 and three out of five Tests on England tour. Gul also compared it to Pakistan's team culture and said that management is absent in Pakistan.

Gul calls out Pakistan team culture

Gul, while talking on a show on Pakistan based channel PTV, said that the rotation policy isn't present in Pakistan team culture. He added that the preference is given to the performance and not the senior players who are coming out of injury.

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“Unfortunately, in our (Pakistan cricket’s) system, in our culture, the problem is that when we also used to play, any senior player was hesitant. If he’s even 70-80% fit, he would say, ‘I want to play’. This was because if another player comes in and performs, then a rotation policy is not in our culture. We only look at the performance: this new guy has performed, so bring him in and let him play. So, I think this trust should be developed (in Pakistan cricket culture) and the rotation policy should be there. Your priority should be the senior player when he gets fit, you should play him,” Gul said.

Pakistan start Asia Cup 2025 campaign against Oman

Pakistan are coming into the Asia Cup 2025 as winner of the tri-series involving Afghanistan and UAE. They start their campaign against Oman on Friday (Sep 12) in Dubai. This is the first time Pakistan will face Oman in the T20Is which is playing for the first time in the continental tournament.