The lid on all the reports circulating about Rohit Sharma‘s pre-season fitness test is about to get shut down. Well, the Indian ODI skipper, who now plays just one format, is set to undergo a mandatory fitness test today (August 30) at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE). Alongside him are several other senior team players, including Test captain Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah. However, there’s no update on Virat Kohli, who also played his last match for India alongside Rohit at ICC ODI Champions Trophy final.
‘Yo-Yo’ tests, why not ‘Bronco’?
A new fitness test, named the ‘Bronco’ test, has been making rounds across media in the last week or so. Adrian le Roux, the Indian team’s current strength and conditioning coach after Soham Desai, has suggested incorporating the Bronco Test, a fitness drill commonly used in rugby. According to reports, however, the team plans to introduce this test later in the season.
Hence, the players ahead of the new season that starts with the Asia Cup will undergo the famous ‘yo-yo’ test. Apart from this, Dexa Scan (for checking bone density) will also take place for the players.
“All players have to undergo a pre-season fitness Test, it’s mandatory as per the contract. These tests help the COE understand the areas the players have to work on or where they are lacking. As there was a big break (after the England Test series), the players were given sets of exercises to do at home,” a BCCI official said to IndianExpress.
“Look, we take these tests (Yo Yo, sprint, power, Dexa) as part of our assessments. It helps us get an idea about an athlete’s condition. For us as professionals, we are responsible to present benchmarks that are challenging yet achievable after having reviewed the team’s fitness standard.”
Rohit Sharma, Gill, Bumrah at CoE
Apart from Rohit, the likes of Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur are also likely to attend the tests. The BCCI has made it mandatory for all the contracted players to undergo fitness tests ahead of the Asia Cup.
While all will not play the Asia Cup, like Rohit and Kohli, but there has been an ample gap between India’s last assignment. India finished the tour of England (5 Tests) on August 4. Since then, many players haven’t played anything and India’s Asia Cup campaign also begins from September 10 onwards.
While Gill has already started practicing for the continental tournament, there were questions over Rohit’s arrival at the BCCI CoE. It was only yesterday when TOI reported that Rohit’s fitness test has been pushed until mid-September. However, it isn’t the case. Instead, the initial reports hold true that stated that the Hitman will undergo tests on August 30 or 31. Rohit and Kohli, who both play just ODIs now, will have their next assignment against Australia Down Under in October. Before that, they have a chane to play the India A vs Australia A series as well to fine-tune their preparations. But is remains unlikely.
Bumrah, who was perfectly managed during a hard-fought England series, will also be present. His fitness will be under scanner, considering he’s part of India’s Asia Cup squad too.
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