Ambati Rayudu had a memorable Indian Premier League season, his best till date, and forced himself back into the Indian side, being named in the One Day International squad to face England. Sanju Samson also had an IPL season to remember, doing well enough to feature in the India A squad that will be touring England. But both have one more thing in common: failing the YoYo test.
The fitness test that tests an athlete’s endurance has become a buzzword in Indian cricket, under the current Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri regime. It first made headlines when Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina failed it in 2017.
Fitness has been a 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 – something that he has reiterated once again with the team leaving for their tour of United Kingdom.
“The YoYo Test is here to stay. If you can pass it, well and good. If not, you can take a walk. There is no room for error. The captain is leading from the front,” said Shastri.
The Kohli-led team will depart for the United Kingdom to play two T20Is against Ireland from June 27 which will be followed by three T20Is, three one-day games and five Test matches against England.
So what exactly is this YoYo test?
The YoYo 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:
“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 a PTI report last year.
It is believed the cutoff has been set at 16.1 for the current Indian squad.
England and Australia have used the test for a while now.
And for further details, here’s an explainer by former Indian cricketer and analyst Aakash Chopra.
The debate over the test usually has to do with whether cricket is a sport where skill is more important than fitness. The question that comes up often is whether some of the greatest Indian batsmen of the past would have cleared the test. On the other side of the coin, cricket is entering a new era where sports science plays a significant role and it’s natural to expect your cricketers to follow a certain bare minimum benchmark for fitness.
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