Reports | Mandatory Yo-Yo test not part of India A protocol
While the team management has added the Yo-Yo test as a compulsory criteria for selection of the senior team, reports suggest that the India A team has been skipping the test. Fielding coach Abhay Sharma dodged the concerned question, saying that coaches don’t interfere in the trainers’ domain.
India is known as a superpower in the cricketing world and the reason the team has been doing so well of late is attributed a lot to the fitness levels of the players. Head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli have introduced the Yo-Yo test as a criteria for selection of the senior team and the move has worked wonders. But according to reports, the India A team has been skipping the fitness test.
A source, according to a Hindustan Times report, shared that the Yo-Yo test is not a part of the A team setup despite it being the supply chain of the senior side. Most selections are made taking into consideration players’ performance in the A side.
“No, the Yo-Yo isn’t a part of the ‘A’ team set-up. At least it hasn’t been in the last few months,” the source said, reported Hindustan Times.
When contacted, fielding coach Abhay Sharma played the diplomatic card and said that the coaching staff don't interfere in the functioning of the trainers.
“See, you have to ask the trainers what and why. It isn’t our domain and we don’t interfere in their style of functioning. They prepare specific programmes which they can give you an idea about,” he was quoted in the report. “Rather than speculating you should speak to the trainers. Like I said, it is their domain.”
A BCCI official, expressing his concern over the matter, shared that the matter should be looked into immediately and also pointed out that as the setup fails as players coming into the senior side will be caught off guard.
“This is not a good sign. Fitness is an integral part of the Indian team’s functioning and if you stop that in the ‘A’ team, what that does is a scenario comes in where a player walks into the senior team and is caught off guard.
“The whole idea to make it clear that the ‘A’ team is a supply line to the national team was so that the boys could be mentally prepared for the transition and when they walked into the team, they didn’t feel like a fish out of water. Clearly Kohli and Shastri’s policy of emphasising on the Yo-Yo has done wonders and that is there to see with the way this team has dominated all formats in recent times,” the official said.