DEXA: All you need to know about BCCI's new selection criteria

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the return of the YO-YO Test and the introduction of DEXA as part of the selection criteria for the Indian team on Sunday (January 1). BCCI held a review meeting on India's poor performance in the T20 World Cup 2022 with India captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid. After the meeting, BCCI announced some big changes, including of shortlisting 20 players for the 2023 one-day World Cup.

The management has now made YO-YO Test and DEXA mandatory for the selection criteria for the Indian team. This is not the first time the BCCI has been using the YO-YO Test for fitness measurement, having first used it ahead of the 2019 one-day World Cup.

"The Yo-Yo Test and Dexa will now be part of selection criteria and implemented in the customized roadmaps of the central pool of players," BCCI said in an official statement. 

All you need to know about DEXA Scan:

However, DEXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) is an unfamiliar term in Indian cricket but given the recent injury issues across formats, it seems necessary and can be useful to prevent injuries. As per a report in the Indian Express, Ramji Srinivasan, the former strength and conditioning coach of the Indian team that won the World Cup in 2011 and Champions Trophy, first recommended the Dexa scan test to the National Cricket Academy in 2011 due to the overall increase in the number of matches being played in a year.

“It helps you understand where the fat is and whether the training methods are yielding the result. It is all linked to a cycle. It is part of testing protocols which should have become mandatory long back. Some teams have been doing this for 10 years. It is a fool-proof method. Skinfold can be manipulated and each time different results can show up. But with Dexa it will be uniform and the data will be used for the future as well,” Ramji said.

The spectral imaging test will be used to measure bone density and is also useful to detect potential bone fractures. DEXA scan uses high-energy and low-energy beans, which pass through the bone, and the emitted X-rays are used to measure the bone density and mineral content. 

The scans are also used to determine the body fat percentage and lean muscle. DEXA scans can be more effective comparing normal X-ray scans as they can detect every small change in the body.