Yo-Yo test happened after team selection because of IPL, says BCCI GM Saba Karim

Amid increasing speculations about the Yo-Yo test, BCCI GM Saba Karim has said that the Yo-Yo test happened after team selection because of IPL.

Amid the furor surrounding the Yo-Yo Test, BCCI GM Saba Karim has also confirmed that the tests are always conducted before the selection of the squad. However, this time due to the IPL, the same could not be done which is why players like Ambati Rayudu and Mohammed Shami failed the test after selection.

“It’s (Yo-Yo test) always conducted before team selection. This time the change happened because of the IPL. We have to pick the teams early because of the logistical reasons, so we couldn’t drag out players during the IPL and made them go through fitness tests. That’s why we conducted it after the IPL was over. And all the players were given enough time to prepare for that,” Karim stated.

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“Earlier, if you see, in the case of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh, the fitness tests were conducted before the team selection. It always happened like that in the past,” Karim said. “This time, the moment the teams were announced, whether that was the India A side or Team India, the players knew that they had to undergo fitness tests. So they had enough time to prepare. That is why so many of them prepared well and got through.”

Karim, instead placed the blame on the shoulders of the cricketers, saying that it is they who are responsible for their own downfall as they did not work hard enough.

“Shami had been sitting on the bench for almost the entire IPL. He didn’t work on his fitness. Rayudu also knew he needed to score 16.1 and he had five weeks to prepare for his fitness. Samson, too, wasn’t training during the IPL. He was just batting in the nets. Everybody knows 16.1 is the bare minimum, which is non-negotiable. It’s not hidden either,” Karim signed off.