Indian Team Face Compulsory Yo-yo Test Ahead of Afghanistan Clash

Cricketnext Staff | Updated: June 2, 2018, 1:01 PM IST

The Indian team that will face Afghanistan in the historic Test match in Bengaluru later this month has been asked by to report by June 8th for mandatory yo-yo tests by the BCCI as per reports in the Indian Express. The Test match which begins on June 14th will welcome Afghanistan into the Test fold and also begin India’s season that includes a tough and grueling tour to England with a couple of T20Is in Ireland.

The yo-yo test results will be part of the fitness report that will be submitted to the BCCI before the season begins. “The players will have to undergo a mandatory yo-yo test. Though the team has been already been picked for the lone Test against Afghanistan, it’s a procedure which each player has to follow. The players, who will be traveling to England too will have to undergo a yo-yo test in the coming weeks,” the BCCI informed.

Apart from the Indian Test team, the India A squads will also have to undergo yo-yo-tests in Bengaluru on June 3 and 4.

After the hectic IPL and a small break of 10 days, the players are expected to come together as part of a camp at the NCA in Bengaluru.

Last year, the BCCI introduced the new system wherein those selected to the Indian team would have to pass the mandatory tests for basic level of aerobic endurance. BCCI CEO Rahul Johri was insistent that, failure to meet the aerobic endurance parameters would see the said player be replaced by fitter players. The Indian cricketers had been asked to achieve a basic score in order to be eligible for selection.

Earlier in the year, like the BCCI, some of the IPL franchises also resorted to the use of the yo-yo tests for their players in the build-up to the tournament. Yo-yo test results often depend on not just a player’s fitness levels but also his fatigue levels, and as players assemble in Bengaluru following a one-and-half-month trek around India on the IPL bandwagon, their eventual scores on the test should make for interesting reading.

In the yo-yo test, players are required to pace themselves methodically as they shuttle back and forth between two rows of cones that are placed at a gap of 20 metres. Each run is timed with three beeps that are played in the background as signals for start, turn and finish. With the timing between the beeps constantly decreasing, each subsequent 40m circuit requires more speed. Getting beaten twice by the beep means the end of the test. The final score is determined by the laps completed and the speed gathered.