Questions persist over Yo-yo test

The Yo-yo test has sparked off a huge debate in recent times, especially after Rayudu lost a spot in Indian team for the tour of England after he failed the test. Yo-yo is an aerobic endurance training exercise that uses beep methods, velocity bursts, and an aerobic fitness test. Two cones are placed 20 metres apart, and the player has to run between them when the beep goes off.

The beeps become more frequent after one minute, and if the player fails to reach the line within that time, he is expected to catch up within two more beeps. The test is stopped if the player fails to catch up before the beeps run out. Players are given scores; the Indian cricket board has kept 16.1 as par to pass the test. Mohammad Shami, Rayudu and Samson failed the test recently.

It has triggered Chaudhry to shoot off a mail seeking clarifications from the COA. According to him, there has been no official notification about the requirement of the test for selections. “At which forum was the decision taken to have a minimum score on the Yo-yo test as a prerequisite for selection into a BCCI selected team? Who all were present in the meeting that decided this? Have Minutes been recorded of the said meeting?” he writes.

Chaudhry also raises the question whether the players were informed about the importance of the test. He also brings up the need for players to be familiarised with the test as it plays a big role in clearing it.

“It is pretty much unfair to note when one hears that Mr. Rayudu took the yo-yo test for the first time only when the test was conducted for his selection. If the players have not even been informed about it officially then the imposition of this criteria is wrong, unjust and reeks of arbitrariness,” he writes. “Test familiarity can impact results, meaning individuals that are unfamiliar with the test procedure may achieve less than optimal scores.”

Question of workload

One of the criticisms against Yo-yo, which is essentially an intermittent recovery test to measure an athlete’s recovery status, is that workload just before the test plays a huge part in its outcome. That’s why a Ashish Nehra, who was fresh, cleared it before his last selection for India and perhaps someone like Rayudu has failed after a draining IPL. “If the player has had an increased workload in the past few weeks and is somewhat fatigued, would he not be scoring less on the recovery tests?” Chaudhry asks the COA.

Worldwide, like in NBA basketball, Yo-yo test is not used as criteria for selection as its deemed that individuals are different physiologically, and can’t be really compared. Chaudhry raises the point in his mail. “Were the factors in a person’s physiology that impact the results of the test studied and considered? How much does it have to do with genetics and how much with training? Does the oxygen transport system in a person’s body and the capacity to contract a large number of muscle fibres simultaneously have an impact on the result? This is a decision that impacts careers … There must be some scientific evidence that would have been relied upon when the decision was taken.”

Chaudhry also raised a couple of questions about possible predicaments the team could face with regard to the Yo-yo test.

“We still don’t know whether it would be necessary say in the case of replacement players when someone gets injured in middle of tour. What if a key player has a niggle of sorts that prevents him from taking the test?” Chaudhry raises the questions. “What happens if the best player of the team has a mild niggle in the knee but can play the Test match that starts in two days but because of the knee niggle, he is not in a position to or is not advised to take a Yo-yo test at all?”

COA’s answers to Chaudhry won’t just be of interest to him but the cricketing fraternity too would love to know the sudden rise in importance of the Yo-yo test.

‘Yo-yo test after selection won’t be repeated’

New Delhi: The chairman of BCCI’s Committee of Administrators, Vinod Rai, has said that asking the players to undertake the Yo-yo test after their selection to the national team was like putting “the cart before the horse”. He was reacting to the debate about the late exclusion of three India players – Sanju Samson, Ambati Rayudu and Mohammad Sami – from the tour party to Ireland-England after their fitness was found to suspect.

Rai went on to say that this was a one-off incident and wouldn’t be repeated. “It happened only this one time and there is valid explanations for that too. Unfortunately the team was selected first because of visas and those kinds of problems … that’s why we needed certain names. But I think it shouldn’t have happened, you can’t put the cart before the horse,” Rai told The Indian Express.

When asked about the minds that thought of making the Yo-yo test mandatory for international players he named the team management. “I don’t know if it was the players or the physio or the trainer but there is a genuine belief even in the Cricket Advisory Committee’s technical committee that is headed by Sourav Ganguly and the players that physical fitness of the team is of paramount importance. Now whether it is Yo-yo test or some other test anything we really don’t know but on the suggestion and acceptance of the team management the Yo-yo test has been accepted,” he said.