Yo-Yo test score for Team India among lowest in comparison to other cricket nations

Bangalore: There has been huge hype surrounding the Yo-Yo test, a mandatory parameter set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a place in the national team.

While the benchmark of the fitness test is set at a minimum 16.1 by the Team India management, it ranks very low in comparison to other playing nations in world cricket according to Mumbai Mirror.

Even arch-rivals Pakistan, whose players are not quite popular for their athleticism, have set a high score.

England and New Zealand lead at the top with a score of 19, the same as Australia who discontinued it a couple of years back.

Also read: All you need to know about the Yo-Yo test

“We stopped using the Yo-Yo 4-5 years ago. It was not considered a reliable enough measure for what we wanted. We use the 2-kilometre time trial these days,” said Greg Chappell, heading one of the best high-performance centres in Brisbane.

While there was no official number disclosed for the South African players, a close source revealed it was higher than 16. “There is no standard pass mark. Each player is given/sets their own personal benchmark that they have to pass. It is definitely higher than 16 though,” he said.

Meanwhile, India’s Asian counterparts like Sri Lanka and Pakistan have set the benchmark at 17.4. But the Team India management has fixed a minimalist score so that players can have minimum standards of fitness.

“After scoring a century, the player has to be in a position to run three. How do we know that? The Yo-Yo score may be an indication to that. Currently, we have 16.1. At some stage, we may increase it to 16.3,” a close BCCI source was quoted saying.

With Virat Kohli leading from the front, few other players have also upped the ante in the fitness test, going to record high scores such as 19.

Sanju Samson, Mohammed Shami and Ambati Rayudu were among those to fail the fitness test recently.