Yuvraj Singh’s future in international cricket could have been decided by the results of an important endurance test called the “Yo-Yo” test.
The veteran all-rounder was left out of India’s squad for the One-Day International series against Sri Lanka along with Suresh Raina, and the reason was reportedly his low scores in the aforementioned test.
The “Yo-Yo” test requires cones to be placed out in two lines with a distance of 20 meters. A player starts with his foot behind one of the lines, and begins running when instructed. Player continues running between the two lines, turning when signalled by the recorded beeps.
After each minute or so, the pace gets quicker. If the line is not reached in time, the player must run to the line turn and try to catch up with the pace within two more ‘beeps’. The test is stopped if the player fails to catch up with the pace within the two ends.
Here is a quick video explainer of how it works:
Fitness has been a key priority for Indian cricket with chairman of selectors MSK Prasad calling on fitness standards to improve and new head coach Ravi Shastri making it clear that India should have the best fielding eleven for the 2019 World Cup.
“The current team think tank, coach Ravi Shastri, skipper Virat Kohli and chairman of selectors MSK Prasad have made it clear that fitness standards are non-negotiable. On an average, the Australian cricketers score 21 in Yo-Yo test. Here Virat, Ravindra Jadeja, Manish Pandey regularly hit that score while others are either touching 19.5 or is hitting above that score,” said a Board of Control for Cricket in India official quoted in the PTI report.
The unnamed official added, “In an earlier era, when the traditional beep test was in vogue, the Indian players of the 1990s would have scored around 16 to 16.5 barring a few like Mohammed Azharuddin, Robin Singh or Ajay Jadeja.”
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