BCCI Review Meeting: Three major recommendations announced; Yo-Yo and Dexa tests made mandatory for selection

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) conducted a review meeting of the Indian men’s senior team on Sunday, January 1 in Mumbai. While key discussions like the workload management, fitness parameters and the player availability issues took place along with the roadmap for the ICC ODI World Cup in October-November this year, the eligibility selection criteria was also one of the key points of discussions in the meeting.

The review meeting was attended by the likes of the BCCI President Roger Binny, board secretary Jay Shah, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman, skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid among others.

Key recommendations

The emerging cricketers from now on will only be eligible for national selection after having played a substantial amount of cricket in the domestic circuit. Meanwhile, in order to maintain high fitness standards, the Yo-Yo and Dexa tests will mandatorily be a part of the selection criteria going forward and will be implemented in the customized roadmaps for the central pool of players. 

The NCA will work in tandem with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises for monitoring the targeted Indian players taking part in the 2023 season with an eye on the men’s team’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) and their preparations for the 50-over World Cup. 

Meanwhile, no decision has been taken by the board on split captaincy and coaching as Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid will continue to lead and guide India across formats for now.

Last month, the BCCI had announced that it was planning to hold a team review meeting after the Men in Blue’s semifinal ouster from ICC T20 World Cup 2022 following a humiliating ten-wicket defeat at the hands of the eventual champions England. 

At the same time, there were several reports which claimed that the Indian team’s 1-2 ODI series defeat against Bangladesh in the recent ODI series would also be reviewed by the national cricket board.