Ravi Shastri’s Yo-yo diktat: ‘You pass, you play, you fail, you fail’
NEWDELHI:PLAYERS aspiring to play for India can expect no leniency as far as passing the Yo-yo fitness test is concerned, coach Ravi Shastri said on Friday.
The India coach was fielding a question on the recent debate sparked after pacer Mohammed Shami (Test) and batsmen Ambati Rayudu (ODI) and Sanju Samson (India A) have been dropped after failing to achieve the target. The test involves accelerating, short back-andforth running.
Asked whether fitness was that big an issue in performance, Shastri said: “It’s a combination of both. You have certain ability, but if you are fit, you can enhance that ability. That is why we emphasise on this yo-yo thing.
“If anyone thinks it is one-off, he can take a walk. He is sadly mistaken. The philosophy is simple: you pass, you play, you fail, you fail. The captain leads from the front, selectors are on the same page, the entire team management is on the same page and the boys have responded extremely well.”
Skipper Virat Kohli pointed out that Jasprit Bumrah, who was a big success on Test debut in South Africa early this year, steamed in even in the final session of the Johannesburg Test, which the visitors won to narrow the margin to 2-1.
The Indian team faced questions over not landing in South Africa early after they lost the first Test in Cape Town, a lowscoring affair, despite taking 20 wickets.
India start their tour with two T20s against Ireland in Dublin followed by three T20s and ODIS each against England followed by the five-test series, which starts on August 1.
NO END TO TENSION
The meeting, which was not sanctioned by the COA, with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rahul Johri staying away, proved that there is no end to the differences between the two parties running the board. The main cause of conflict remains the Board committees.
“The meeting decided to retain all the existing committees of the BCCI. It also authorised the acting secretary, Amitabh Choudhary, to sign on all the affidavits on behalf of the BCCI,” said acting president CK Khanna after the meeting.
While some like the finance and infrastructure committees had been working smoothly, the committee on the National Cricket Academy (NCA) had caused a rift.
The COA had been maintaining that only qualified officials should be on the committees. The NCA, however, has had Niranjan Shah on board. Shah is above 70 and has been Saurashtra Cricket Association chief for decades.
In fact, a request by the Board officials to let the NCA committee to perform the foundationlaying ceremony at the NCA was turned down by the COA earlier.
A BCCI official at the meeting
IT’S A COMBINATION OF BOTH (FITNESS AND PERFORMANCE). YOU HAVE CERTAIN ABILITY, BUT IF YOU ARE FIT, YOU CAN ENHANCE THAT ABILITY. THAT IS WHY WE EMPHASISE ON THIS YOYO THING
laid the blame on COA. “When you can have Prakash Dixit on the infrastructure committee and N Ram on the CK Nayudu Awards committee despite them being over 70, what is wrong in having Shah? The Supreme Court mandate says people above 70 can’t be office-bearers. Shah is just a member,” he said.
The meeting decided that only Amitabh Choudhary can sign affidavits on behalf of BCCI and not CEO Johri. But since the meeting has no legal standing in the eyes of COA, it remains to be seen whether these decisions will hold water.