"There is no such thing as one size fits all": Sunil Gavaskar criticises Yo-Yo Tests


image-lconesw0Yo-Yo Tests were re-introduced by BCCI [Source: Associated Press]

Team India excelled in fitness during Virat Kohli's captaincy tenure, however, the post-pandemic era has been riddled with consistent injury woes. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently decided to re-start the Yo-Yo Tests and introduced the DEXA scans to set fitness standards within Indian cricket.

Former India opener and skipper Sunil Gavaskar believes that the main priority for selectors to select players should be cricket fitness and not just physical. 

Writing in his column for Mid Day, the 1983 World Cup winner talked about an example from his school playing days, where he refused to run in practice due to a condition called shin splits. 

Here what's Gavaskar said

“Many years back, when this physical fitness fad had started, we had two former teammates who had retired and now were the managers of the team for different series that season.

Fitness is an individual thing and there is no such thing as one size fits all. Quick bowlers need a different level than spinners, wicket-keepers need an even higher level, and batters perhaps the least. Cricket fitness should be the prime consideration,” 

Gavaskar's teammate and former India captain Kapil Dev has also criticised the Yo-Yo Test in the past, saying that players like Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly would have found it difficult to play for India if such tests existed back in the day. 


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