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A new report has accused India cricketers of faking fitness tests for optics, saying that since the Kohli-Shastri regime ended, these are a formality and don’t determine selection.
Yo-Yo test was an important criterion under Virat Kohli but it has been reduced to just ‘optics’, as per reports.
Since the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri partnership broke, fitness tests in Indian men’s cricket have reportedly become only a ‘formality’ and a ‘hogwash’. According to The Times of India, these tests are no longer considered selection criteria for the international team, because certain ‘influential’ players are against the Yo-Yo and Bronco Tests, saying they don’t want to risk injuries and want to manage their bodies in other ways.
Recently, several India players, including Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Jasprit Bumrah, among others, converged at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru to give the fitness test, while Virat Kohli reportedly gave it in London. All were said to have passed it. However, this report claims that the tests were mere ‘optics’ to show that fitness was gauged, even though results weren’t released, nor was the media allowed.
“There are people who have their heart in the right place for Indian cricket, but certain strong voices have constantly silenced the yo-yo and fitness chatter,” the report cited an unnamed source as saying. “Not just yo-yo, but even the 2km run test. There was a time when the yo-yo marker was raised to further enhance standards but now it has become a routine jog between the cones, with the beep adding to the ambience sound.”
“When there are no consequences, why will people take it seriously? The ageing superstars will continue to prove their ‘match fitness’ and hide behind ‘managing their body’ but it’s not helping Indian cricket ecosystem evolve,” the quoted source added.
According to the report, under Kohli and Shastri, a partnership that lasted till 2021 (Shastri stepped down as head coach, and then Kohli slowly gave up captaincy across formats, though he still plays ODIs), the Yo-Yo test was a major selection criterion, and players who failed it were snubbed regularly. Now, the report said, players get selected even if they do poorly in the test, as they cite injury prevention as an excuse.
The report also quoted former India Strength & Conditioning coach Soham Desai, who said that since the 2019 World Cup, the fitness tests are only numbers for coaches to judge the players’ fitness and nothing more.
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