Virender Sehwag believes skills, not Yo-Yo tests should be the major criteria for selection in the Indian team. Yo-Yo test has become a mandatory selection criterion in the Indian team over the last few years. Several prominent names in the past have not managed to clear the test and were thus dropped from the team.

Virender Sehwag: Skill Is Important And Players Should Be Given A Chance On Skills Not Yo-Yo Tests
Recently, the likes of spinner Varun Chakravarthy and spin all-rounder Rahul Tewatia among others failed the test ahead of the recently-concluded T20I series between India and England. While Rahul Tewatia did manage to clear it in the second attempt, Varun Chakravarthy did not. The duo didn’t play a single T20I of the 5 match series and Varun Chakravarthy was replaced by Rahul Chahar.
Sharing his views on the mandatory fitness test, Virender Sehwag said skills not yo-yo tests should be preferred when it comes to selection in the Indian team.

While Indian captain Virat Kohli has on several occasions in the past, stressed the importance of the fitness test, Virender Sehwag disagrees and feels fitness is something that can be improved over time.
“Skill is important, today if you are playing a fit team but don’t have the skills, then you would ultimately end up losing. Play them based on their skills, slowly you can improve their fitness over time but if is yo-yo criteria is applied straight away, then the talks are different. If a player can field and bowl 10 overs, that should be enough, we shouldn’t be concerned about the other things,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
Virender Sehwag was responding to a query from a fan who had asked if all-rounder Hardik Pandya was unfit to bowl why did he play in the T20I series and why Varun Chakravarthy, who was fit to bowl but did not get a chance.
“Wasn’t fitness the no.1 criteria?” – the user asked.
Virat Kohli is one of the fittest cricketers on the international sporting circuit. He has over 20,000 international runs and is next to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting as he has 70 international centuries.
Virender Sehwag: If The Criteria Existed Earlier, Sourav Ganguly And VVS Laxman May Not Have Cleared It
Virender Sehwag said if the yo-yo test existed in his playing days, the likes of former skipper Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman might not have been able to clear it. He revealed that Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman rarely used to get the desired mark of 12.5 in the fitness test that was conducted back in the day. Talking about Hardik Pandya, he stated that the all-rounder had no fitness issues but did not bowl due to his workload management.
“I want to tell you one thing, here we are talking about yo-yo Test, Hardik Pandya doesn’t have issues with running, he has issues with workload because of his bowling. However, Ashwin and (Varun) Chakravarthy, on the other hand, haven’t cleared the yo-yo Test, that’s why they aren’t here.
“But I won’t agree with all of this, if these criteria existed before, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly wouldn’t have passed it. During my time, we had such a test, where they always fell short of the 12.5 mark,” Virender Sehwag said.

Under Virat Kohli’s tenure as skipper, BCCI has increased its fitness levels by incorporating yo-yo tests and 2 km fitness tests as Indian cricketers have to work hard to increase their chances of qualifying for a berth in the squad.
The yo-yo test level for the cricketers has been raised to 17:1. BCCI has also incorporated a new fitness parameter to run, a two-kilometre time trial, which is now a global fitness standard employed by international cricket teams.
It is understood that players have the choice to pick either of the two tests-the yo-yo test or the time trial, but the BCCI has made it mandatory to clear one of the two fitness tests. Fast bowlers have to run two kilometres in 8 minutes 15 seconds, the rest in 8 minutes 30 seconds.
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