Mohammad Kaif feels that yo-yo test should not be the only criteria for national selection

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has laid out his own criteria for selection in the Indian Cricket Team. Kaif on Saturday said that the yo-yo fitness test cannot be the “sole criteria” for national selection, and dropping a technically sound player for not clearing the test is not valid. The Indian team has set 16.1 as the yo-yo test benchmark for the past few years, and players like Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh failed and were ruled out of the side.

Most recently, Ambati Rayudu was selected in the Asia Cup only after clearing the yo-yo test. He wasn’t a part of the tour to the UK earlier this year because he failed to clear the test. Rayudu has scored 600 plus runs in the IPL season and thus was picked in the team for the ODI series in England.

“Fitness is important as we have that the fielding standard of the Indian team has improved a lot. But there should be a balanced approach,” Kaif said at the Ekamra Sports Literature Festival during a panel discussion on the topic ‘The Secularist and Cricketer’. “If a player is scoring runs and taking wickets, dropping him solely on the basis that he could not pass the ‘Yo-Yo’ is not good,” he added.

Kaif was one of the fittest Indian players

Kaif was himself one of the fittest cricketers of his time, and also one of the best fielders Team India has had. He recalled the fitness standards during his time, and how a good performer was never dropped for his lack of fitness.

“When I was in the team, there was test (beep test) to know the fitness of the players but never was a player dropped from the team. He would be told that his fitness level was not good and will have make improvements in the next few months.”

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