BCCI to raise Yo-Yo's benchmark ahead of 2019 World Cup
Indiaâs team management is apparently looking to raise playersâ fitness standards even more ahead of the 2019 World Cup by increasing the Yo-Yo test benchmark. The mandatory test for Indian team players has also kept the first-class cricketers, who are under the selectorsâ radar, on their toes.
The Yo-Yo test has become quite an uphill task for Indian players now, so much so that players like Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin felt the need to announce it through social media after clearing the test. And the latest reports from TOI, which states that the team management is now looking to raise the Yo-Yo test benchmark from the standard 16.1, could be nightmarish for them. As per the report, the bar could now be raised to 16.5 or even 17 in the New Year as team India
âFitness has always been one of the key aspects associated with this team. There are discussions going on as to whether the benchmark could go a touch higher, say 16.5, to increase the fitness standards further. There has to be a progression in every aspect and fitness is no different. However, nothing has been
Not only aged cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, but emerging players like Washington Sundar have also been struggling to find success in the test. The 18-year-old, who debuted for the national team in the recently-concluded ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka, was close to sealing a place in the Indian team prior to the T20I series against Australia after claiming 11 wickets in his Duleep Trophy debut match but had failed to clear the test then.
On the other hand, players like Dinesh Karthik have come out in support of the drill stating that clearing the test was ânothing earth shatteringâ.
âIt only starts getting tougher from 17.5. It is pretty achievable for most sportsmen," Karthik had said.
The test is already mandatory for players in the national team and aspiring first-class cricketers, who are in the national selectors' radar, have now also become conscious enough about it. They would make sure that they stay fully ready if and when they get a call from the National Cricket Academy (NCA).