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See the full story · 2 sourcesReport: BCCI overhauls fitness testing after India injury crisis, standardises Bronco and 2K benchmarks originally appeared on Cricket News .
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
India 's injury-hit England tour and growing fitness concerns reportedly prompted BCCI to overhaul fitness testing.
BCCI plans to standardise Bronco and 2K fitness benchmarks after the CoE identified inconsistent testing standards.
The overhaul aims to improve accountability, coordination and injury prevention.
Why is the BCCI changing its standard of fitness testing?
India’s injury issues seem destined to bring about a drastic change in how the country's cricketers will be evaluated on fitness in the coming years.
As per a report in TOI , the BCCI is considering implementing standardised tests in terms of the Bronco run and 2K run tests, following the highly injury-prone tour of England where flaws were found in the present process of conducting these tests.
The report further says that the BCCI medical team at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru feels that the process of conducting different tests for each individual player has led to varying standards making it difficult to manage their workloads and avoid injuries.
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Per the report, the CoE found that in the absence of any uniform criteria for testing, there is no common yardstick available to gauge the fitness level of the players in different formats and teams.
A BCCI source told the publication that "certain senior players were given much comfortable targets to meet to clear fitness tests", hinting at the CoE clearing the likes of Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, while adding that "the Indian players are not used to the Bronco test."
Moreover, the report states that the contracted players have already been notified regarding the new testing norms. "It is only now that contracted players have been handed the base parameters of the new tests," one source reported, adding that a few Test players like Mohammed Siraj had been taken "off guard" by the new system ahead of the team's departure for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka.
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(Getty)
What are the Bronco and 2K tests?
In the case of the Indian team's fitness testing process, there have been certain changes in the procedures owing to the replacement of Soham Desai with Adrian Leroux as the strength and conditioning coach. The BCCI medical team along with CoE and Indian team staff have reportedly found difficulty in maintaining consistency while testing the fitness of the players.
Bronco Test is an endurance test performed in rugby as well as other sports for the assessment of aerobic endurance, recovery, and running endurance. It is now replacing the Yo-Yo test as the fitness test for the Indian cricketers. Although BCCI had employed this test earlier, it is understood that it will be defined with a benchmark of 5.15-5.20 minutes.
2K Test is basically a timed two-kilometre running test and is done in conjunction with Bronco Test to get an estimation of running and match fitness. CoE is reported to have fixed the benchmark at 9-10 minutes for this test, whereas, the previous Yo-Yo fitness benchmark was 16.5.
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Report flags concerns over fielding and mobility
According to the report, the BCCI is looking forward to better coordination among the players, supporting staff, selectors, and medical team after a number of injury problems related to the top players.
Sources say that Kamlesh Jain, the new strength and conditioning coach, has been asked to set standards and not make an exception for senior players.
"Kamlesh has been told that he shouldn't worry about any player's stature," the source stated.
The report has also mentioned concerns related to India's fielding and mobility, with the team management reportedly saying that "the mobility of some of the players in the field has been questionable."
Senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were under pressure in terms of workload management due to their hectic schedule, while the bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were prone to injuries and had to be taken care of properly.
One such instance was that of Harshit Rana where sources said that the pacer was over-weight by four kilos.
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The Cricket News Opinion: Fitness overhaul must go beyond testing numbers
Recent injury woes in India – for example, managing Jasprit Bumrah's workload and Rishabh Pant's rehabilitation after a severe knee injury – have underscored the necessity for better long-term player management.
A source cited in the report has pointed out the risks of over-testing and overload on players, arguing that today the players are subjected to "extreme fitness programmes". It is also mentioned that previously there was an approach which was concerned about keeping the players fit without "burning them out with fitness regimes" and regulating their workloads according to personal requirements.
Standardising benchmarks for Bronco and 2K tests is definitely good, but fitness can not be measured in terms of numbers. This sport requires quick movements, constant sprints, recovery between spells and a lot more.
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