New Delhi: In what comes as a big step to elevate Team India’s fitness levels, a new rugby-style fitness test has been introduced at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The test is aimed to boost the stamina of the players and ensure that they are match ready. This new test will be particularly aimed at boosting the levels of the fast bowlers with the focus more on running.
According to a report published in the Indian Express, the new regime has been introduced to boost the fitness levels of the bowlers especially after the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy. The five-match India-England series witnessed that the fitness levels of some of the bowlers was lacking except for Mohammed Siraj, who bowled the maximum number of balls and played the entire five games in the series.
Aimed at boosting endurance, team’s strength and conditioning coach Adrian le Roux is behind the introduction of the idea, mentions the report. It was Roux who floated the new idea with which head coach Gautam Gambhir also agreed. The Indian cricket board has already in place a Yo-Yo test and 2 km time trial for maintaining fitness of the players.
Bronco Test explained
Bronco test has been added to the other mandatory tests lined up for the Indian team players ensuring that the players maintain top-level fitness. In the bronco test, a player is supposed to begin with a 20 metre shuttle run which will be followed by a 40 metre run and a 60 metre run. These three will constitute one single set and the players are required to do five such tests which complete the bronco test.
The total of five sets adds up to 1200 metre of run with a deadline to complete all the five sets in just six minutes. The report further mentions that the Indian cricket board has issued an advisory for the cricketers to undergo the test mandatorily and some of players have even completed the rugby-style test. This came after the Indian team players were spotted spending more time in gym and not completing their running tasks.