The Indian cricket team players took part in the fitness drills at the KSCA-Alur grounds on Thursday, ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. Some of the Indian stars assembled in Bengaluru and underwent the Yo-Yo Test to get ready for the continental tournament.
Virat Kohli, known for his supreme fitness, aced the yo-yo test, scoring 17.2 while the BCCI fitness parameter is 16.5.
Other players including skipper Rohit Sharma and his ODI deputy Hardik Pandya also participated in the drills at the KSCA-Alur grounds here and successfully completed the tests. All these drills are part of the six-day conditioning and skill-set enhancement camp.
“The tests were successful and the reports will be sent to the BCCI soon,” a source told PTI.
Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson, and Tilak Varma – are expected to join the camp on Friday, as they were part of the Ireland T20I tour.
From Friday onwards, there will be increased outdoor activities, but those returning from Ireland might not be put under the Yo-Yo test as they will be put through the skill-set segment of the camp.
Several parameters of players will be checked during the camp including a lipid profile, blood sugar (fasting and PP), uric acid, calcium, Vitamin B12 and D, creatinine, testosterone, and Dexa tests, etc.
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The outdoor events will also include match simulation sessions monitored by batting coach Vikram Rathour and head coach Rahul Dravid and the main focus for the team management in the coming days will be KL Rahul who sustained a niggle recently.
Sanju Samson has been picked as a cover for Rahul and will travel to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup as a traveling reserve.
The team management and NCA staff are content with Rahul’s batting fitness as demonstrated by those sessions in the match simulation process last week, they still need more clarity on his willingness to handle the wicketkeeping duties.
Also, Shreyas Iyer will be monitored closely as he also is coming back from a back injury and has received the all-clear from the NCA authorities.
The conditioning camp is scheduled to conclude on August 29 and the Indian team is expected to depart to Colombo the next day.
(PTI inputs)
