“I am a man for systems and any system put in place I would strive my level best to try and match up to it. Every leader has his own vision on how to bring the team about and this is the vision of the current leadership group then it’s important to respect it. If I was the leader, then I would expect my teammates to respect it. I have been in great conditioning ever since I missed the IPL. I have trained madly and I am completely in compliance with it,” Ravichandran Ashwin, who has represented India at a lot of levels said in an interview with The Times Of India.
Gone are the days when cricketers could afford to let just cricket take care of their fitness. Every player who wants to be part of the Indian team, has to clear the test. Maybe some legends from the past may not have been able to clear this test, but modern sport demands much more.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at what this Test consists of.
It’s basically a running Test with cones used to determine where the player has to run. They have to respond to signals like beeps. As time passes by, the speed and intensity of the challenge increases, and if the player is unable to stand the heat, then they fail the test.
You can watch a demonstration here.
Earlier, top players like Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh have failed the test, so we don’t know if it is necessary. After all, what matters is the performance on the field in terms of wickets taken and runs scored. All the other things like what their score on the Yo Yo Test is, should fall by the wayside.