Former Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev on Wednesday slammed Indian team management for making yo-yo test compulsory for selection in the national squad.
Speaking to the Times of India, Kapil Dev, who was also among one of the fittest players during his time, said a player should be judged only on the basis of their on-field performance.
“If a player is match fit, he should be playing and there should not be any other criteria,” Dev told The Times of India.
“Even football legend Diego Maradona wasn’t the fastest runner but whenever he had the ball, he was the fastest. Similarly, every cricketer has a different way of responding to fitness drill. A bowler can perhaps clear the Yo-Yo test easily than a batsman. But this isn’t the ultimate test to judge a player. It comes down to your performances on the field and cricketers should be judged only on the basis of their on-field performances,” Kapil Dev added.
As per reports, currently, if a player wants to represent India in any format of the game (Test, ODIs, T20Is), they need to pass the Yo-Yo test. Earlier, Chennai Super Kings batsman Ambat Rayudu was dropped from India’s United Kingdom squad after he failed the fitness test. After Rayudu was dropped, senior all-rounder Suresh Raina was picked as his replacement.
Troubled India pacer Mohammed Shami was also dropped from India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan after he failed to pass the test and Rajasthan Royals batsman Sanju Samson was stopped from travelling to England with the ‘A’ team after he failed to achieve the desired fitness mark.
Talking to media at the pre-departure conference, India’s head coach Ravi Shastri had said that the fitness test is here to stay and those failing it will not be selected in the national team.