No Bronco Test For Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Others In Bengaluru, Report Explains Why
As per a report, none of the Indian players gave the newly-introduced Bronco test in Bengaluru.
- BCCI has conducted mandatory fitness tests for players including Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill
- The newly introduced Bronco test has not yet been implemented for player fitness assessments
- Bronco test may be introduced during team assembly in Dubai for the Asia Cup
As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) conducts mandatory fitness tests for players, including ODI skipper Rohit Sharma, Test captain Shubman Gill, and others, the newly introduced Bronco test reportedly has not been implemented yet. According to a report, the players were made to prove their fitness using the existing system, meaning none were assessed on the basis of the Bronco Test, which was a recommendation from the new Strength & Conditioning coach, Adrian Le Roux.
"It could happen when the squad assembles in Dubai for the Asia Cup. The team will start leaving late tonight (early morning of September 4) and have their first session at the ICC Academy on September 5. So if the management and the S&C want to do a Bronco assessment, it could happen in Dubai, if it happens at all," a Times of India report quoted a source at the BCCI's Center of Excellence as saying.
From time to time, the BCCI makes changes to the set of tests used to measure players' fitness. While fitness tests are done for all BCCI-contracted players, India's former Strength & Conditioning coach Soham Desai revealed that those tests didn't always form a selection criterion. It isn't yet known if the Bronco test will become a selection criterion.
"During Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri's time, they directed Shankar Basu to get fitness to a certain level leading into the 2019 World Cup. Those numbers were agreed upon with all the stakeholders involved, and they wanted to keep it a serious affair so that people leading into the 2019 World Cup would reach a particular level before we played the World Cup. That was the whole vision. That's why those numbers were agreed upon, shared, and became a selection criterion.
"But after that, we have done the Yo-Yo test three times a year for almost all contracted players every year. But it was never a selection criterion. It is a fitness assessment parameter where we as coaches, as people working in the NCA (BCCI's CoE), get an idea—a snapshot—about their fitness at that particular level," he explained.
India Cricket Team
Rohit Sharma