Indian cricketers, including Test skipper Shubman Gill and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, have passed the pre-season fitness test which was conducted at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, PTI reported on Sunday (August 31).
Gill will travel to Dubai soon for the Asia Cup 2025, slated to begin on September 9, with teammates Jasprit Bumrah and Jitesh Sharma, who have cleared the fitness parameters as well. The Punjab batter has been appointed India's vice-captain for the continental showpiece.
A fitness test became mandatory for Gill after bout of flu had forced him out of the first-round Duleep Trophy fixture. He was supposed to lead the North Zone in the tournament, marking the beginning of India’s domestic season 2025-26.
According to the report, other players who went through the test at the CoE without any concern were Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur.
In addition to the now standard Yo-Yo test, a DXA Scan, which is a simplified method to examine bone density, was also carried out during the fitness test.
Both Jaiswal and Washington feature in the reserves list for the Asia Cup T20, while Thakur will stay back in the city to lead West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal against Central Zone from September 4.
While Rohit does not have any immediate assignments after bidding adieu to Test and T20I formats, the veteran campaigner could travel to Australia for the ODI series in November. Before the Australia series, he may also play for India A against Australia A in three one-day matches at Kanpur on September 30, October 3 and 5.
The report further suggests that Rohit is likely to remain in the city for a few more days to train at the CoE.
Other members of the Asia Cup-bound squad like Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav and Riyan Parag (standby) have featured in the Duleep Trophy quarterfinals for their respective Zonal teams, and there could not be a separate fitness test for them now.
Wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, who is also among the Asia Cup standby, missed out the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal due to a groin niggle. But the Central Zone skipper, who was replaced at the helm by Rajat Patidar against NorthEast Zone, is still under observation of the medical team.
(With PTI Inputs)
