Top 3 fitness tests used by international cricket teams

Fitness is a key aspect of being a successful athlete. There are no shortcuts to fitness as players push themselves through immense pain and endurance training to achieve the levels required to compete in the international circuit.

Teams across the globe use several fitness tests and put their players through them to mandate selection. These rigorous tests are paramount as cricket is a very physically demanding sport. From being exposed to extremely hot and humid conditions where the body can dehydrate pretty easily to places where it gets frigid cold, players are expected to turn up at every venue and deliver their best irrespective of the conditions.

Here's a look at three tests conducted by teams to maintain peak fitness levels of their players round the year:

#1 Yo-Yo Test

The Yo-Yo test requires an athlete to shuttle between two markers (cones), set 20 metres apart from each other on the ground. He/she has to start running at the sound of a beep and reach the other end before the second beep goes. The athlete then has to return to the starting point before the third beep to complete one 'shuttle'.

The Yo-Yo test starts at speed level 5, comprising one shuttle. It then goes to the next speed level, which is 9, and it also involves one shuttle. Next on the scale is speed level 11, comprising two shuttles, whereas speed level 12 has three shuttles and level 13 has four. There are eight shuttles at each level from 14 onwards.

There is a 40-metre distance between each shuttle, and a player gets 10 seconds of recovery time between shuttles. If an athlete fails to reach the cone before the sound of the beep, then he gets a warning. Three official warnings bring an end to the test.

#2 Bronco Test

The Bronco test is also a shuttle run exercise to assess the aerobic endurance and rate of fatigue recovery in athletes. It has been introduced by cricket teams globally as the sport involves repeated bursts of running, whether it's running between the wickets, chasing a ball in the outfield or a pacer steaming in from the top of his mark.

#3 Two-kilometre time trial

The two-kilometre time trial requires athletes to cover five sets of 400 metres each in a fixed time frame. In 2021, Team India's bowlers were supposed to accomplish it in 8 minutes and 15 seconds, whereas the deadline set for the rest was 8 minutes and 30 seconds.