Reports | Sanju Samson, Jaydev Unadkat among six cricketers to have failed BCCI's new 2KM test

The Indian team's obsession with fitness is not news anymore for the Yo-Yo test, which had replaced the beep test, has been made mandatory for everyone to feature in the Indian side. Back in 2018, Sanju Samson and Ambati Rayudu were removed from the Indian side after failing in the recovery test and could only feature after qualifying on a later date.

The BCCI have recently introduced another 2KM test to judge the fitness level of players partaking in international competition and the Times of India reported that Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Ratna, Rahul Tewatia, Siddarth Kaul, and Jaydev Unadkat have failed the test conducted at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore this week.

“Since this is a new type of a fitness test, they will all get a second chance to clear it at a fresh date, after some gap. However, if they fail to clear it, then it puts their selection for the forthcoming white-ball series comprising five T20Is and three ODIs against England at home in doubt,” a source told TOI.

“A few fitness tests were conducted for around 20-odd cricketers who are in the reckoning for the limited-overs series against England at home, and for the T20 World Cup in India later this year. Among these tests was the now famous yo-yo test and the new ‘2km run’ fitness test.

"In this test, a batsman, wicketkeeper or a spinner has to complete the twokilometre distance in eight minutes and 30 seconds, while for a fast bowler, the benchmark is eight minutes and 15 seconds. Six of the players failed to clear these tests. Some players barely managed to complete the run,” the source said.

The source further revealed that Indian skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri are fully convinced that this new test should become mandatory for the future selections alongside the Yo-Yo test.