Ambati Rayudu hopes of joining the team for the limited-overs tour of England were dashed on Friday when the 32-year-old reportedly failed the now compulsory Yo-Yo test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Rayudu last played for India against Zimbabwe in 2016 and while the likes of skipper Virat Kohli and his predecessor MS Dhoni passed the test with flying colours, the Baroda batsman’s score was well below the threshold mark of 16.1 as per reports.
Rayudu isn’t the only one who failed the test that has seen not just the senior boys, but also the ‘A’ team players take the test in batches at the NCA. While the India ‘A’ and U-19 teams were so far excluded from going through the Yo-Yo test, they were added to the system this time round as even the Test team went through the fitness test before the one-off Test against Afghanistan. The earlier casualties were Mohammed Shami in the senior team and Sanju Samson in the ‘A’ team.
Since Kohli took over as captain though, there has been an extra emphasis on fitness, with the captain himself leading the way. In fact, Kohli and Dhoni were the first to hit the ground running on Friday under the supervision of trainer Shankar Basu. Jasprit Bumrah, Siddharth Kaul and Washington Sundar were all part of the process as was injured all-rounder Kedar Jadhav. The handful of journalists who had gathered to watch were kept well away, with tape stretched across the entrance to the NCA premises.
