Yo-Yo Test should be used just as a guide, says former India bowling coach

What's the story?

The Yo-Yo Test, which is the benchmark to assess a player's fitness before he enters the Indian side, has come under a lot of scrutiny off-late. The fitness staff and the bowling coach have come under the scanner after injuries to a few players.

However, CSK and former Indian cricket team bowling coach Eric Simons believes that the fitness Test should be used as a guide and in conjunction with other Tests.

“Yo-Yo has its place as a measuring tool, but needs to be used in conjunction with other tests to ensure functional fitness and strength is being built. It also is a uniform way to see where the squad is and to build a history of a particular player so that you can see if fitness is improving or dropping over a period of time,” said Simons while speaking to CricketNext.

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The recent injuries to Wriddhiman Saha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have led to the rehabilitation process and the coaching staff behind it to come under the scanner.

Bhuvneshwar, who has been suffering from a lower back injury since before the Indian Premier League, was made to play the final ODI of the three-match ODI series against England, thus aggravating his injury. He missed out on the squad for the first three Tests against England and has flown back to India.

Saha, on the other hand, was suffering from a thumb injury. However, he is now suffering from a shoulder injury which will take a couple of months to heal.

The details

Simons, who was CSK's bowling coach in the IPL this year, ensured that his side maintained their fitness levels throughout the tournament, despite most of them being aged above 30.

“It is in my opinion just a guide as it can be affected by a lot of factors such as the time of day, weather, players emotional/physical space on the day etc. But I do feel it is a useful guide and most importantly in a world where you are dealing with competitive natures, a way to subtly encourage training because guys have a natural tendency to want to improve and beat others,” he continued.

What's next?

With a lot of talented players missing out due to a failure in the Yo-Yo Test, it will be interesting to see if the team management persists with such a Test as a benchmark for selection in the future.