Former India opener Virender Sehwag has claimed that neither Sachin Tendulkar nor Sourav Ganguly would have cleared the yo-yo test if it existed during their time.
The yo-yo test has become a mandatory criterion for selection in the Indian cricket team and several players have missed their chances after failing to meet the requirements, which includes recent players like Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Tewatia. Sehwag is of the opinion that skills matter more than fitness.
“I want to tell you one thing, here we are talking about yo-yo test, Hardik Pandya doesn’t have issues with running, he has issues with workload because of his bowling. However, Ashwin and (Varun) Chakravarthy, on the other hand, haven’t cleared the yo-yo test, that’s why they aren’t here.
“But I won’t agree with all of this, if these criteria existed before, then the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly wouldn’t have passed it. I have never seen them pass the beep test. They always fell short of the 12.5 mark,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
Sehwag's comments came after a fan questioned why Hardik Pandya was selected in India's squad for England series if he was unfit to bowl in the first place.
“Skill is important, today if you are playing a fit team but don’t have the skills, then you would ultimately end up losing. Play them based on their skills, slowly you can improve their fitness over time but if is yo-yo criteria is applied straight away, then the talks are different. If a player can field and bowl 10 overs, that should be enough, we shouldn’t be concerned about the other things,” Sehwag said.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar
