After being reappointed as Indian cricket team’s head coach, Ravi Shastri is set to begin his second consecutive innings. According to reports, he is about to bring in some changed in the fitness regime of the Indian cricketers.
The story
Currently, the team led by Virat Kohli follow the internationally accepted yo-yo test as a way to measure the fitness of a player. The players need to periodically score 16.1 in the test to be eligible to play for the country. But this is going be changed under Shastri soon. The minimum qualification, in all likelihood, will increase up to 17. The report in Bangalore Times suggests that the coach will hold a meeting with stakeholders to discuss the same at the soonest.
The yo-yo- test is basically an aerobic endurance training exercise. It was developed by Danish football physiologist Jens Bangsbo. Players like Mohammed Shami have failed the yo-yo test in the past and former India cricketers like Yuvraj Singh and Kerala Sanju Samson have struggled to clear same. A source was quoted as saying by Bangalore Mirror: “Fitness is integral to participation at the international level and the minimum qualification will be 17.”
The intention
Shastri after joining the team as the coach for the second time insisted on introducing more youngsters in the upcoming years. “Next two years is to see the smooth transition happening. You will get a lot of youngsters coming — in both white-ball setup and Tests. You need to identify another three-four bowlers to add to the pool by the end of our tenure. My endeavour by the end of this tenure would be to leave the team in a happier space so that they can set a legacy in the time to come.”
In all probability, his idea is to make the fittest team with the proper balance of youth and experience. With the focus being at the top of the cricket world for a longer duration, Shastri’s agenda seems to be tougher and stricter than ever.
