Ace pacer 's fitness has been a huge topic of discussion. Bumrah has been ruled out of the upcoming One-Day International (ODI) series against England owing to injury rehabilitation, which has further put his place for the Champions Trophy squad in jeopardy.

Injuries have often been a big setback for Bumrah, and ultimately for the Indian team, where he has missed many crucial tournaments due to match fitness. Despite being India's best player with the ball in hand, the risk of injury mid-season has always put his workload management under highlight.

Meanwhile, former South African pacer, Vernon Philander, has opined his take on how the 31-year-old can be utilized efficiently by the Indian team, and how the management will play a huge role in determining and balancing his workload throughout the international calendar.

“I think he (Bumrah) has really set the standard high. His skill set, the ability to shift his pace up and down, I think he has just been wonderful for the game. Overall, if you look at the amount of games that India plays, obviously over the calendar year, that load is quite massive," said in a select media interaction on the sidelines of SA20.

“I think it's more about how the Indian management manage him. I would say, you look at a guy like Jasprit Bumrah, and you want him to be playing all the key series, all the key tournaments. So, they have to manage his workload in between tournaments, With IPL coming up, you want a player like him to be available for most games but how do you manage him throughout the IPL season? So, I would say you perhaps want to look at playing him in all the main features and give other bowlers an opportunity in less important matches," Philander added.

Notably, the Ahmedabad-born Bumrah has been the in-form bowler for the side in all three formats of the game and also won the award for ICC cricketer of the year recently. His last One-Day outing came during the World Cup final in 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. He was India's second-highest wicket-taker, taking 20 wickets from 11 games, as the Rohit Sharma-led side ended as runners-up at home.