Select the players based on their skills, not yo-yo test results: Virender Sehwag

Former India batsman Virender Sehwag has reignited the debate regarding the yo-yo test being a mandatory criterion for selection in the national team. The test is basically a variation of the beep test which is a running aerobic fitness routine that Indian cricketers undertook in the past. In 2018, the BCCI made it mandatory for the players to clear the yo-yo test to become eligible for selection in Team India.

Last month, the BCCI raised the minimum qualification mark from 16:1 to 17:1. In addition, the BCCI also added a new fitness parameter: run a two-kilometre time trial, which is now a global fitness standard employed by international cricket teams. According to reports, the players have the choice to pick either the yo-yo test or the time trial, but the BCCI has made it mandatory to clear one of the two fitness tests.

In the last couple of years or so, several players have been dropped from the squad after failing to clear the fitness test. In 2018, the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Sanju Samson, as well as Mohammed Shami, had lost their spots in the team for the same reason. Recently, Rahul Tewatia and Varun Chakravarthy suffered the same fate after failing to clear the mandatory fitness tests.

Skill is important: Virender Sehwag

In the wake of Tewatia and Chakravarthy losing their spots in the team, Sehwag has said that skill should be the most important criterion for selecting a player. Sehwag suggested that the team should first select the players and then work on their fitness. The batting legend also opened up on the fitness tests conducted during his time, stating that the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly could not pass these tests.

“Skill is important, today if you are playing a fit team but don’t have the skills, then you would ultimately end up losing. Play them based on their skills, slowly you can improve their fitness over time but if is yo-yo criteria is applied straight away, then the talks are different. If a player can field and bowl 10 overs, that should be enough, we shouldn’t be concerned about the other things,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz, on their YouTube video.

“I want to tell you one thing, here we are talking about yo-yo Test, Hardik Pandya doesn’t have issues with running, he has issues with workload because of his bowling. However, Ashwin and (Varun) Chakravarthy, on the other hand, haven’t cleared the yo-yo Test, that’s why they aren’t here. But I won’t agree with all of this, if these criteria existed before, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly wouldn’t have passed it. During my time, we had such a test, where they always fell short of the 12.5 mark,” he added.