Indian middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh has cleared the Yo-Yo fitness test ahead of the all-important South Africa tour. Yuvraj was left out of the side from Sri Lanka tour after failing Yo-Yo fitness test and lost his place in the side since then.

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The left-handed batsman decided to opt out of few Ranji Trophy matches in a bid to focus on fitness. His efforts paid off as he passed the fitness test with a score of 16.3 which is only 0.2 more than minimum requirement (16.1), nevertheless good enough.

His teammate Suresh Raina has been failing the fitness test despite all his training and workout routines. The Yo-Yo test is a compulsory fitness test required to be taken by each cricketer as a fitness parameter to be selected for the Indian side. It judges the player’s ability to run for long period, in order to check their endurance levels.

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While some experts believe the fitness standards set in Yo-Yo test are really tough, not all cricketers believe so. A few days ago Dinesh Karthik told PTI, “The current benchmark is pretty achievable. Anybody who puts in a bit of effort can reach that mark. There is nothing earth-shattering about it. It only starts getting tougher from 17.5 onwards. There has been a lot of hues and cry about it but it is pretty achievable for most sportsmen.”

Even though Yuvraj is eligible to be on the board for South Africa tour, his chances of getting selected look bleak. He hasn’t played a lot of competitive cricket off late and hence lack of match practice is a factor.

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India has experimented a lot with a No.4 slot in ODI cricket with the likes of Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik being tried there. However, at the moment, Dinesh Karthik looks the most feasible option.

– by Atharva Apte