Following ICC Champions Trophy 2017, India captain Virat Kohli and the team management decided to revolutionise Indian cricket by giving utmost priority to fitness. The first step taken by the management was to make the yo-yo test mandatory for selection in the national team. Speaking of the same, Mohammad Kaif makes an interesting statement.
Those who cleared the yo-yo test kept their spots while a number of players were dropped for failing to touch the desired mark. The fitness test continues to be one of the parameters for selection and still, only players who touch the desired mark are considered for selection.
But, it wasn’t the same back then. The former Indian team under the captaincy of Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni have largely given importance to the talent and skills of a player rather than the yo-yo Test.
Fitness is very important for cricketers – Mohammad Kaif
Speaking of the same, Kaif stated that there are only a few players, who would have succeeded in the Yo-Yo Test. He named himself, Lakshmipathi Balaji and Yuvraj Singh as the players, who would have cleared the Test during those times.
“Fitness is very important for cricketers. If we did the Yo-Ye test during our time, Balaji and I could have fulfilled that criteria, even Yuvraj Singh was good. But, I do not think that others would have passed the Yo_Yo test,” Mohammad Kaif said during a live Helo Session on Thursday.
The likes of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and even Zaheer Khan couldn’t impress Kaif with their fitness skills and hence didn’t make it to his list.
However, the current team strictly follows the criteria and have done exceptionally well in increasing their fitness levels. Currently, the Indian team has become one of the brilliant fielding units in International Cricket.