Cricketing fitness more important than yo-yo test results, asserts Kapil Dev

One of the more respected voice in Indian cricket - Kapil Dev - said that having yo-yo test as a criteria to select the players is a good thing but it should not be the only criteria. The players should also have the “cricketing fitness”. Many International cricketing nations use the yo-yo test as a criteria to get an athletically sound team on the field.

“I think it’s important to keep a level of fitness but in my mind, cricketing fitness is more important than anything else and it is different from Yo-Yo tests,” Kapil told The Hindu on the sidelines of his Tedx Talk on Sunday.

The former allrounder also emphasised on the fact that a player with good cricketing skill and sense can any day beat an athletically sound but cricket-wise lacking player. He also gave a befitting example for the same.

“If you are not a good athlete but if you have good cricketing sense and use yourself best for the benefit of the team, that’s more important.

“ If I say (Ravichandran) Ashwin is not a 100 % athlete but a 100 % performer of the game, can you really say he is not good enough if he doesn’t pass the Test? Same with (Saurav) Ganguly. He wasn’t one of the best athletes but he was one of the best captains we have had,” Kapil said.

After a scintillating debut by Prithvi Shaw, many cricket critics started comparing the young teenager to the stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. But the right hander has toned down the comparisons and has said that such needless comparisons only add to the pressures a player faces at the International level. He also put to rest the recent comparisons between him and Hardik Pandya saying people should give young cricketers enough time get International exposure and then the results will be there for everyone to see.

“I only say that we should not put pressure on young kids, don’t compare so early. Tomorrow when Prithvi (Shaw) comes out and we say he’s the next Sachin Tendulkar, his natural talent will go out, don’t do that.

“Let them play over a period of time — 7-8 years — and you will come to know who’s what because by then a player is mature enough. Pandya is a very good cricketer, very talented but he has to perform,” he signed off.