#NewsBytesExplainer: All you need to know about Yo-Yo test
The advent of fitness culture has undoubtedly raised the bar of Indian cricket as compared to previous decades. Intense training sessions and fitness routines are tantamount to a cricketer's form these days. Therefore, Yo-Yo test has been setting the benchmark for selecting players in most Test-playing nations, ahead of a series or tournament. Let us understand the significance of Yo-Yo test.
The Yo-Yo test is a maximal aerobic endurance fitness test that involves running between two markers (B and C), placed 20 meters apart. A beep indicates the players to run. The players have to run towards the other marker (C) with the first beep, while they must return back (B) before the second and third beep. The marker (A) is set for recovery.
The audio cue indicates at a particular speed, which increases at regular intervals. After each shuttle of 40 meters, the participants have an active break of 10 seconds (between A and B). The test lasts after the players are unable to match the speed.
The Intermittent Recovery Test (Yo-Yo test) was introduced by the Danish soccer physiologist Dr. Jens Bangsbo and his colleagues in the 1990s. Footballers around the world were tested to improve their overall fitness. The routine did not follow the template of running long distances. Hence, Yo-Yo test became the most commonly conducted fitness regime in world cricket, especially in India.
The Yo-Yo test is another variation of Beep test, a fitness routine Indian cricketers had to undertake in past. The Beep test deprived the players of recovery period between the shuttles. Also, this test was not measured as a selection criteria.
With busy cricket calendars across formats, coping with fitness is of paramount importance. The incumbent team management in India believes the fitness quotient should not be compromised anyhow. Hence, the benchmark score in India has been set as 16.1. In England and New Zealand, the mandatory score is above 19, while Sri Lanka and Pakistan have fixed it at 17.4.
A number of eminent Indian cricketers have failed to clear the test previously. The likes of Amabti Rayudu, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh made headlines after failing the test in recent past. Paradoxically, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has a score of 19 to his name. According to reports, Manish Pandey eclipsed Kohli's record in 2017, having crossed the 19-mark.
