Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has expressed his views on the removal of Yuvraj Singh from the ODI side. He believes there was no need to rest the left-hander if he is in contention for the 2019 ODI World Cup as he hasn’t played too much cricket in the recent past.
“I don’t think ‘rest’ is the right word because he (Yuvraj) hasn’t played any cricket for quite a while and he would be wanting to play. If you want to see him at the World Cup, he should be given the maximum opportunity. Because, someone like Yuvraj, you want him in that flow, you want him in that rhythm. You can’t have someone like him playing in one series and resting thereafter,” Gambhir told Cricinfo.
Yuvraj failed the ‘Yo-Yo’ Test
It was almost certain that Yuvraj Singh will make it to the Indian team for the ODIs against Sri Lanka. But in a shocking turn of events, he was excluded. Later, it was attributed to his failing to pass the ‘Yo-Yo’ fitness test. Yuvraj and Suresh Raina didn’t get the required score in the test to be considered fit for the selection.
Yuvraj had made a scintillating comeback to the ODI side when he scored a blistering knock of 150 against England at Kanpur. But his form took a dip in the games that followed. He didn’t enjoy a particularly good time in the ICC Champions Trophy either. But he didn’t play too badly to be dropped.
“The Yo-Yo test is done to assess the aerobic fitness of an individual. However, it is not just that one aspect that decides a player’s fitness levels. There are many other tests that are done to measure the strength, flexibility, speed, power, agility, core strength etc. I don’t think the BCCI would drop or remove somebody just based on the report of one test,“ said Ramji Srinivasan, who was a trainer in the Indian cricket team from 2009 to 2013 on the ‘Yo-Yo’ test.
