Punjab Cricket Association to make the yo-yo test a must for selection

The Indian national cricket team has time and again made it clear that fitness is one of the most important criteria to get selected at the highest level. Thus the yo-yo test has been made compulsory to pass before getting selected for any series. However, in a recent turn of events, the state associations are also looking to implement this rule for their players now.

The Punjab Cricket Association has recently made the yo-yo test compulsory for the players to be selected in the state team. This particular move has been brought in for the T20 tournament, Syed Mushtaque Ali Trophy. Reports suggest that the players in the probable list have also appeared for the test. Star Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh also chose to voice his opinion on the fitness test.

Harbhajan Singh’s statement on the matter

“We can’t have players who can just bat and bowl. They have to be fit enough to play.  At times, during this Ranji season, the intensity was very low. So, I thought enough is enough. Drop in energy levels leads to drop in performance and that leads to poor results. You just can’t have up and down results in alternate matches,” said the Punjab team captain, Harbhajan Singh, while speaking to Times of India.

The talented spinner further added, “It is clear that Punjab cricket is growing at the U-19 level, but it is not getting converted at the Ranji Trophy level. We found out that fitness was a major issue. When we suggested this (implementing the Yo-Yo test) to the Punjab Cricket Association, they were very excited about it and urged us to enact it immediately.” Punjab has previously produced some star players like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Rahul Sharma, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Lala Amarnath, Mohinder Amarnath and others.

The Bengal team, which reached the semi-finals of the Ranji trophy this year, has also decided to implement the yo-yo test for state players from next season. The test, which is conducted at the national cricket academy in Bangalore, has seen players like Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina being dropped from the side. The two cleared the test only a couple of days back, after repeated failures. Whether all state teams make the fitness test a part of their regular qualification regime is yet to be seen.

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