Former India Physio John Gloster Unconvinced By 16.1 Yo Yo Test Cut-Off

Yo Yo test is perhaps terrifying the Indian players more than anything at the moment. The BCCI has made it mandatory for the players to clear the fitness test in order to be considered for selection in the national team.

In case of failing the test, the players are paying a huge price as they are being dropped from the team. Recently, as many as three big names suffered the cruel fate. The three players are – Mohammed Shami, Sanju Samson and Ambati Rayudu. Shami had to face the axe from the Test squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan.

On the other hand, Samson and Rayudu lost their places in the India A and senior ODI squads, respectively. Both Samson and Rayudu would have felt hard done by due to the test. The duo had earned the call after their brilliant performances in the IPL.

Playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR) this season, Samson amassed 491 runs at an average of over 31 and a strike-rate of almost 138. Before that, he had a brilliant outing in the premium domestic competition Ranji Trophy. Samson scored 627 runs in seven games with the help of two tons and three fifties. He had also scored a century against the visiting Sri Lanka side last year, in a warm-up match.

On the other hand, Rayudu enjoyed his most successful IPL season with the bat so far. He played an integral role in Chennai Super Kings’ title-winning run in the IPL this year.

Among the top-five run-scorers, this season was the best IPL Rayudu had, scoring 602 runs at a strike rate of 149.75 including one century.

However, both the players had to endure heartbreak after failing the yo-yo test.

Credits: BCCI

And now former India physio John Gloster has given an interesting take on the test. Gloster is not convinced with the high 16.1 cut off for the test.  One of the more sought after physios in the cricketing circuit, Gloster also believes that clearing the test is not paramount for all the formats of the game.

“Yo-Yo test could be of help in the T20s, but is it a definitive test for all formats of the game? I am not too sure,” Gloster told Sportstar.

Gloster also expressed his doubt over the credibility of the test by citing Samson’s example.

“The reason to have such tests is to know the durability factor. But then, what about the benchmark? Is Sanju Samson unfit? No. He took some fantastic catches during the IPL, which would not have been possible had he been unfit,” Gloster said.

“The game is becoming skill-based and it is important that one has the ability to execute. It is a must to build fatigue resistant athletes, and that’s justified. But the argument is, is 16.1 the ideal cut-off point? That’s the grey area,” Gloster added.

Having worked with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly in its ranks, Gloster admits that it would have been ‘unrealistic’ to see those players scoring 16.1.

“For some cricketers, 16.1 would have been physically unattainable. That doesn’t mean they would be exempted from the selection,” he opined.

“The benchmark is whether they genuinely attempt to improve based on a threshold. Whatever the individual threshold is, every time you test them, they improve that,” he added.