CoA has asked Saba Karim, BCCI’s GM-operations, to answer questions raised about the appropriateness and manner in which the test has been implemented.
Bengaluru: The Committee of Administrators running Indian cricket, led by former Comptroller and Auditor-General Vinod Rai, swung into action Sunday, taking a long, hard look at the controversial YoYo test as the sole criterion for cricketing fitness.
ThePrint had earlier on Sunday reported extensively on an eight-page letter from Anirudh Chaudhry, the treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), addressed to the CoA asking a series of questions on the YoYo test, its appropriateness and the manner in which it has been implemented.
This comes in the wake of fast bowler Mohammad Shami failing the YoYo test and being replaced in the Indian squad for the Afghanistan Test; batsman Ambati Rayudu being chosen for the limited-overs leg of the England tour on the back of a hugely successful IPL and then being replaced after failing to reach 16.1 in the YoYo test; and wicket-keeper-batsman Sanju Samson being cut from the India A tour of England after failing the test.
While Rai was not on record stating what concrete steps the CoA would take to address the issue, sources in the BCCI said that the process had already been initiated.
Earlier, Rai had told The Sunday Express that asking the players to undertake the YoYo test after their selection to the national team was like putting “the cart before the horse”, and that this was a one-off incident and wouldn’t be repeated.
Panel of Experts
“From what I hear, the CoA has asked Saba Karim, general manager-operations of the BCCI, to look into the matter and answer some of the questions raised,” said an official in the know of things.
“The next step is going to be the formation of a committee of neutral former cricketers and some fitness experts, who will do a study on whether the YoYo test should be the sole criterion for fitness.”
The sticking point was the Rayudu case. Typically, the selection committee only selects players who are fit and able for selection. However, it was suggested that the timing of the IPL and the selection for the England tour led to a “one-off” situation where the player was subjected to the test after being selected and then disqualified.
There is enough reason to believe this is not true. When Shami was ruled out for the Afghanistan Test in Bengaluru he was replaced by Navdeep Saini, a 25-year-old medium-fast bowler.
Logistic challenge
It has been suggested that the BCCI usually conducts YoYo tests before selecting a squad, but in a country such as India, this is logistically impossible. At any given point of time there are approximately 500 active first class cricketers.
Just how will trainers or sports science experts know which ones need to be put through the YoYo test until they are selected? Who will be summoned to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, where these tests are usually conducted to ensure standard conditions?
These questions have been raised repeatedly in the past, and largely ignored. It appears, however, that Chaudhry’s latest missive has touched a nerve and got the wheels of the CoA turning. Finally.