After India's abolishment, PCB brings back yo-yo test and makes it mandatory for Pakistan selection

In the wake of Pakistan's dismal performance in the recently-concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly decided to bring back the Yo-Yo test in a bid to improve the fitness of the players.

Even though Pakistan were one of the contenders for the T20 World Cup title, they bowed out of the competition at the group stage. The Men in Green began their campaign with a humiliating defeat against the USA before losing to arch-rivals India as well. They did beat Ireland and Canada but those wins were not enough to progress ahead of the group stage.

Following the poor performance in the tournament, Pakistan players' much-talked-about fitness standard has become a major talking point once again. The PCB has now decided to bring back the yo-yo test to ensure that players maintain standard fitness.

PCB makes yo-yo test mandatory:

According to a report in Pakistani news outlet Geo News, the yo-yo test was not being conducted in the recent past but now Director of Domestic Cricket, Khurram Niazi, has approved a plan to improve the fitness of the players across the nation. The plan has been approved by PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi as well.

According to the plan, the PCB will be conducting fitness tests across Pakistan in two phases. In the first phase, fitness tests will be conducted nationwide from July 11. The tests will be carried out at the district level, followed by the regional level.

The players who fail the tests will be dropped not only from the national team but also from regional teams. Niazi has made it mandatory for the players to pass the fitness test in order to get selected for the teams. Even the centrally-contracted players need to pass the test in order to earn a place in the Pakistan team.

Most of the teams use the yo-yo test to determine the fitness of the players. In 2017, the BCCI had made the test mandatory for the Indian players as well. However, as per recent reports, the fitness tests are no longer criteria for India selection.

In the past, several players were also dropped from the squad after failing to clear the test. Former India batsman Ambati Rayudu was dropped from the ODI squad for the tour of England in 2017 when he failed the fitness test while Sanju Samson was withdrawn from the India A squad. Mohammed Shami was also axed from the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in 2017.