3 Indian players who have beaten Virat Kohli in yo-yo test

Yo-Yo test is a fitness assessment done by cricketers around the world. Post the West Indies tour in 2017, Virat Kohli and management have used this test as necessary criteria for making a place in the national team. This fitness routine was in the news when some players like Ambati Rayudu, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina were left out of the team as they failed to clear the test.

The Indian team has set the benchmark at a score of 16.1. Players who are able to score more than this cut-off are eligible for selection in the Indian team in any format. According to theyoyotest.com, New Zealand and England have the cut-off at 19; Pakistan and Sri Lanka have set the score of 17.4 as the benchmark.

Virat Kohli is an inspiration not just as a batsman but as an athlete too. He is one of the fittest cricketers in the world and is a role model for youngsters to follow and learn aplenty from him. The Indian captain has gone vegan for more than a year and often preaches about the importance of a fit body. His Yo-Yo test score is 19. However, there are few other Indian cricketers who have scored more than Kohli in the Yo-Yo test.

Here are the three Indian players who have beaten Kohli’s Yo-Yo score:

Manish Pandey - 19.2

We have seen Manish Pandey take some blinders in the outfield and dive around and save boundaries inside the circle. His acrobatic fielding on the ground is a testament to his fit body. He has even bettered Virat Kohli in the Yo-Yo test. As per a report in Times Now, he has recorded a score of 19.2 in the Yo-Yo test.

Pandey has had a stop-start career thus far. The 30-year-old has spent aeons warming the bench and carrying the drinks. He made his limited-overs debut in 2015. But with the presence of the likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, and then the return of Yuvraj Singh, Pandey always remained a backup batsman. Later with the emergence of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja as indispensable all-rounders, add to it the musical chairs being played in the middle order for the past three years, Pandey once again was missing from the playing eleven.

The Karnataka batsman is a legend in the domestic circuit. He has over 6000 first-class runs and over 5000 List-A runs at an average of 51 and 45, respectively. In the blue jersey, the right-hander has played 26 ODIs, scoring 492 runs at an average of 35 with a solitary century in Sydney in 2016. His T20I record is superior to the ODIs- in 32 innings Pandey has scored 707 runs at an average of 47 with a strike rate of 127- including three half-centuries.