File photo of Indian cricket team star Virat Kohli© Twitter
The Asia Cup bound India team has hit the ground running with the closed-door camp in Alur, where the squad members are undergoing routine fitness tests ahead of the continental event beginning August 31. The various fitness and medical tests are being conducted along with the mandatory Yo-Yo test which young opener Shubman Gill has topped with an impressive score of 18.7. All the cricketers who have so far appeared for the YoYo test have passed the cut-off level of 16.5 with Virat Kohli also putting up an impressive 17.2 as per his Instagram story. Save the five cricketers — Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (reserve member for Asia Cup) and KL Rahul, all have undergone the test.
“The YoYo test being an aerobic endurance fitness test, the results could vary from when you last played and how much of workload you have gone through in the past week.
“Gill as of now has the highest score of 18.7. Most of the players have scored between 16.5 and 18,” a BCCI source privy to developments told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
The fitness cum conditioning camp has been organised by the BCCI as this was the only window before the World Cup at home in October.
“If the players have a gap between two tournaments, the National Cricket Academy’s sports science team along with sports staff of India team does conduct all the mandatory tests,” the source said.
When the YoYo tests were introduced six years back during the time of erstwhile Strength & Conditioning coach Shankar Basu, the cut-off was 16.1 but since then the marker has been upgraded and it is 16.5 now.
Most of the young Indian players are very fit nowadays. Gill’s 18.7 is a testament to that considering that he has played non-stop cricket since the start of IPL.
The first big break he got since March was the three weeks after completion of the 50-over series in the West Indies.
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