The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) general manager of cricket operations, Saba Karim, defended the board’s decision…
Chennai Super Kings batsman Ambati Rayudu was picked in India's ODI squad for England and later dropped from the squad after he failed to clear the test. (Photo: AFP)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) general manager of cricket operations, Saba Karim, defended the board’s decision to conduct the Yo-Yo fitness test after announcing the Indian squad.
Karim called it “one-off” incident when test took place after the selection of the team and it happened because Indian Premier League (IPL) was going at that time. “It’s (yo-yo test) always conducted before team selection. This time the change happened because of the IPL,” Karim told The Indian Express.
“We have to pick the teams early because of logistical reasons, so we couldn’t drag out players during the IPL and make them go through fitness tests. That’s why we conducted it after the IPL was over. And all the players were given enough time to prepare for that,” Karim added.
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Indian squad for one-off Afghanistan Test and UK’s tour was announced on 8 May 2018. Indian Pacer Mohammed Shami was included in Afghanistan’s debut Test match but he was later dropped from the team after he failed Yo-Yo test.
Chennai Super Kings batsman Ambati Rayudu was picked in India’s ODI squad for England and later dropped from the squad after he failed to clear the test. CSK all-rounder Suresh Raina replaced him in the team.
“Earlier, if you see, in the case of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh, the fitness tests were conducted before the team selection. It always happened like that in the past,” Karim said, adding, “This time, the moment the teams were announced, whether that was the India A side or Team India, the players knew that they had to undergo fitness tests. So they had enough time to prepare. That is why so many of them prepared well and got through.”
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