New Delhi: As India inched closer to second World Cup win in 2011, giant tumor of 15cm X 11cm was growing within Yuvraj, the swashbuckling batsman coughed blood, played in pain and took India to historic win but six years later, he has been showed the exit door for failing a fitness test. Now, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has a big question to answer, Is ‘Yo-Yo’ test bigger than Yuvraj singh? Should fitness be the sole criteria to make a place in the squad?
The fitness tests were conducted simultaneously in Kandy and at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and results were compared to know who was the fittest amongst the lot and monitor their levels. YoYo tests are a series of shuttle runs between two cones kept 20m apart at increasingly faster speeds than their last run with a 5 second recovery period.
However, Cricket is a game which requires proper utilization of skills like hand-eye co-ordination, shot placement, fielding, balancing and concentration to name a few. It is a sport in which techniques play important role than stamina, unlike football or hockey where physical demands are too high.
Yuvraj possess all techniques and on his day, he can be the most destructive batsman. He is the same player, who fired 6 maximums in an over during the World T20 in 2007.
The 35-year-old battled cancer and made a sensational comeback to the ODI side against England in January 2017, smashed career best 150 runs and was rewarded with the Man of the match award for his explosive innings.
During his 15-year stint, Yuvraj has played infinite match winning innings. The Punjab born cricketer has represented India 40 tests, 304 ODI’s and 58 T20 matches but he is still hopeful of one chance that takes him to England in 2019 and bring curtains down on his illustrious career.