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India vs England Oval Test: India batting great Sunil Gavaskar has taken a indirect dig at head coach Gautam Gambhir over the 'workload management' debate, stating that Mohammed Siraj, who bowled a whopping 185.2 overs, has "debunked forever this business of workload".

Siraj was the only bowler from India's pace arsenal who played all five Tests of the just-concluded drawn series against England and the star bowler stepped up his game in the absence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, ending the series with 23 wickets in all and bowling 185.3 overs in total.

The pacer Bumrah was available for only three games of the series, and it led to him missing the Oval Test as part of his workload management.

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Before the series, Gautam Gambhir informed that Bumrah would only play three Tests as part of his workload management.

Gavaskar questioned the workload management concept by claiming that playing for the nation should be enough to "forget the aches."

"When you are playing for your country, forget the aches and the pains. On the border, do you think that the jawans are complaining about cold? What did Rishabh Pant show you? He came out to bat with a fracture. That is what you expect from the players. Playing cricket for India is an honour," Gavaskar told 'India Today'.

"You are representing 140 crore people and that is what we saw in Mohammed Siraj. I think Siraj bowled his heart out, and he debunked forever this business of workload," he added.

"For five Test matches, non-stop he has bowled 7-8 over spells, because the captain wanted him and the country expected of him," added the former skipper.

The 76-year-old emphasised that workload management cannot come in the way of team's ability to field its strongest possible lineup.

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"If you are going to succumb to people who are talking about workload, then you are never going to have your best players on the field for your country," said the India legend.

"I hope that the word ‘workload' goes out of the Indian cricket dictionary. I've been saying that for a long time... And I think that is the one thing that we all should keep in mind that this workload is only a mental thing, not so much a physical thing," he added.