It has become mandatory to pass the fitness test to get into the Indian squad.
Indian cricket team doesn't show leniency in fitness anymore. If a player fails to match the set standard of fitness and has room for improvement, the management wouldn't take him in.
India's captain Virat Kohli has always been vocal about his idea of a fit squad. Recently, Varun Chakravarthy was included in the Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against England. But he was ruled out before the series after reportedly failing in the fitness test at NCA.
Former India batsman Virender Sehwag tried to crack what made Kohli so obsessed with a high level of fitness. He recalled India's tour to England in 2011-12 where they saw the fitness chart of the English county teams.
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"I last toured England in 2011/12 to play two Test matches. I played one match at The Oval and one in Birmingham. All the county teams that are there, have a chart in their dressing rooms that demonstrate the standards of fitness. I think the fitness standards of this current Indian team have been picked from there," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Sehwag said half of their players failed to match the fitness level of the county teams after trying the tests. He feels that would have stuck in Kohli's mind and he implemented the same strict fitness measure as soon as taking over Team India's captaincy.
"I'm saying it because back then even we were impressed with it. This much should be the weight, the mobility, the flexibility, and so on. When we tried doing it, more than half of our team failed in those tests in 2011/12," Sehwag said.
"So I think that is what Virat Kohli has picked. If England had that standard in fitness, we should too. And ever since he's taken over as captain, he's stressed enough on fitness that certain tests should be cleared, and only then can we compete the best."
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)