Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, in a lecture at IIM Ahmedabad, criticized corporate India’s work culture, urging leaders to nurture talent instead of exhausting it. His speech, delivered months ago, has regained attention amid debates over long working hours, including L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan’s 90-hour workweek suggestion and Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour workweek pitch.
Bhogle compared India’s corporate world to cricket, asking, “Are we nurturing the Jasprit Bumrahs in our workforce, or are we grinding them into dust?”
He warned against turning India into a “stress factory,” emphasizing that employees leave bad bosses, not just companies.
He also shared how young professionals, including lawyers, are burned out by exploitative work conditions, calling it the “sugarcane circuit”—where workers are squeezed dry and discarded.
Bhogle’s remarks align with growing criticism of excessive work hours. Anand Mahindra emphasized quality over quantity, while economist Sanjeev Sanyal dismissed the long-hour push as “silliness”, warning of burnout and reduced productivity.
As corporate leaders debate work culture, Bhogle’s message is clear—India needs to support talent, not overwork it.
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