Shardul Thakur raises voice against increased player workloads, saying ‘No one asks us how our body feels’ while playing.
‘No one asks us how our body feels’ – Shardul Thakur says players’ workloads are ‘taken for granted’.
With regard to workload, fast bowler Shardul Thakur feels that players are being “taken for granted” and that, with the quantity of cricket played nowadays, it will be “going to be a constant challenge” for a modern-day player to maintain the same levels of fitness throughout the year.
Thakur has been playing cricket nonstop for more than 11 months. Last October, it began with the Irani Trophy. After that, he participated in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the Ranji Trophy season of 2024–25. After initially going unsold, he joined the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 2025 Indian Premier League as an injury replacement. He then participated in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and played two tour matches for India A against the England Lions.
Player Workload
“A lot of times we are taken for granted and the management is not to the highest level,” Thakur said on the final day of the Duleep Trophy semi-final in Bengaluru. “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 & Conditioning coach], doing constant work.
“And it’s about playing cricket. I’m not saying that you keep pulling yourself out from playing the games. But frequent breaks here and there are good for the body.”
“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.”
Over the past few years, players’ workload management has gained attention. In order to limit his workload, Jasprit Bumrah recently only participated in three of the five Test matches during the England trip. Though Thakur stated it shouldn’t be on their minds during a game, he does think it should be up to the players to control their workload and level of fitness.