The Indian cricket team players took part in the fitness drills at the KSCA-Alur grounds ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. Some of the Indian stars assembled in Bengaluru and underwent the Yo-Yo Test to get ready for the continental tournament.
Batting maestro Virat Kohli, who brought a fitness revolution to Indian cricket during his captaincy, aced the Yo-Yo Test with a 17.2 score. The BCCI-mandated fitness parameter is 16.5.
The exercise is a part of the six-day conditioning and skill-set enhancement camp.
According to PTI, other players including skipper Rohit Sharma and his ODI deputy Hardik Pandya also participated in the drills at the KSCA-Alur grounds here and successfully completed the tests.
“The tests were successful and the reports will be sent to the BCCI soon,” a source following the developments told PTI.
Four players – Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma – are expected to join the camp on Friday.
The four players recently played in the three-match T20I series in Ireland and they will be flying out of Dublin to Bengaluru.
While the drills were largely restricted to indoor sessions on this day, except the Yo-Yo test, there will be increased outdoor activities from Friday.
However, those returning from Ireland might not be put under the Yo-Yo test as they will be put through the skill-set segment of the camp.
The PTI had reported on Wednesday that several parameters of players will be checked during the camp including lipid profile, blood sugar (fasting and PP), uric acid, calcium, Vitamin B12 and D, creatinine, testosterone and Dexa tests etc.
Apart from the fitness routines, the outdoor events will also include match simulation sessions monitored by batting coach Vikram Rathour and head coach Rahul Dravid.
Meanwhile, the man on focus for the team management in the coming days will be KL Rahul who sustained a niggle recently.
The report suggested that Rahul was also part of the fitness drills on this day but the Bengaluru batter was not included in the Yo-Yo test.
The wicketkeeper batter has already been picked in the Asia Cup team despite the chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirming that he is carrying a “niggle” which is unrelated to his previous injury.
Sanju Samson was named as a travelling reserve in the Asia Cup squad as a cover for Rahul.
While the team management and NCA staff are quite satisfied with Rahul’s batting fitness as evidenced by those sessions in the match simulation process last week, they still need more clarity on his readiness to handle the wicketkeeping duties.
However, Rahul is expected to miss the initial phase of the Asia Cup. India will play their matches in the tournament in Sri Lanka.
Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer was given an all-clear by the NCA authorities, but he will be watched closely, considering the Mumbaikar is also returning from an injury.
The conditioning camp is scheduled to conclude on August 29 and the Indian team is expected to depart to Colombo the next day.
(With PTI Inputs)
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