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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to standardize the fitness programme for all of its players. Repeated injury setbacks and a dip in overall fitness in Team India have frustrated the board officials.
When they investigated the actual reason behind the repeated injuries to multiple players, they found that the Bronco Test lacks a proper standard parameter for judging a player's fitness.
The main difference between the Bronco test and the previous fitness tests
It has been reported that the BCCI medical team has rolled out a figure of 5.15-5.20 minutes to judge whether a player is ready for a match or not. In the past, BCCI's fitness tests were more challenging than they are now.
To prove fitness, players had to complete a 2 km running test within a 9-10 minute mark. Additionally, there was a marker to clear the yo-yo test. Currently, the Bronco test seems too flexible for the players, but there are doubts about whether it is effective or not. The recent injuries of Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy were alarming signs for the BCCI.
Bronco Test has no different parameters to measure players' fitness separately
A BCCI source told Times of India that the Indian players are not used to the Bronco Test. Previously, the board used to set different parameters for different players, which has now changed. The Indian players are not used to the Bronco test.
“The Indian players are not used to the Bronco test. Over the last year, the CoE had set different base parameters for players. It has now emerged that certain senior players were given much more comfortable targets to meet to clear fitness tests. The CoE staff had also cleared players like Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy to make sure it was delivering players according to team management’s needs,” the source told TOI.
Team India physio Kamlesh Jain is questioned by the board
BCCI and the team management might have approached the team physio Kamlesh Jain for the repeated injury setbacks. Even in England, where the conditions were favourable for cricket matches, Indian players were in cramps on multiple occasions. The Board is reportedly not happy at all with the growing issue.
“Kamlesh has been told that he shouldn’t worry about any player’s stature and flag anything that he doesn’t find satisfactory. It has been seen that the mobility of some of the players in the field has been questionable. Senior batters are struggling to push their running between the wickets as they bat longer. The number of slow fielders has increased,” the source continued.
As the board has addressed the issue and might have identified the real problem as well, the cricket management body is likely to work on it at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru, where players go to recover from injuries. In a major step, the non-definitive customized fitness tests for the players are likely to be removed first.
Adrian Leroux, who replaced Soham Desai as the strength and conditioning coach last year, is reportedly not getting along well with BCCI’s medical team. After the arrival of Leroux, the Bronco test was introduced as the primary fitness test for the players instead of the yo-yo test.
