Pakistan Head Coach Mickey Arthur has a strict policy when it comes to fitness. This is the reason why we’re seeing more and more fitness tests introduced in Pakistan by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to match the fitness level of the other teams like Australia, India etc.

The latest fitness test carried out by the PCB is known as the Yo-Yo Test, which features minimum passing targets for Pakistani cricketers hoping to prove their readiness in the field.

While the minimum passing target for Pakistani players was 17.3, the other teams have higher minimum targets. Indian players are available for selection only if they score a minimum of 19.5, while the Australian players regularly score 20+ scores.

The good news is that youngsters including Shan Masood, who is also regarded as the fittest player in the team by Mickey Arthur, as well as Muhammad Rizwan and Muhammad Asghar scored 20+: Shan and Rizwan scored 22.1, while Asghar scored 20.7. The solid middle order test batsman, Asad Shafiq also scored an impressive 21.1.

The bad news is that Yasir Shah has failed his fitness test, managing to score 17.1, whereas Captain Pakistan cricket team, Sarfaraz Ahmed scored just enough (17.5), as did Imad Wasim (17.4) to pass the test.

The new passing level is 17.4, Yasir Shah failed & the rest passed it,some only JUST passed it.. pic.twitter.com/ESJBTZkWL8 — zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) August 23, 2017

All other players passed their fitness tests with Muhammad Hafeez scoring 18+, Ahmad Shehzad 18.5, and Sohail Khan 19.

What is a YoYo Test?

The YoYo Endurance test is a measure of the aerobic endurance fitness of an individual. It has two levels – Level 1 and Level 2 – and also another variant called the YoYo Intermittent Test.

The athletes have to run between two cones set 20m apart on the sound of a beep and after a minute or so the pace gets quicker meaning that for the next sprint you will have to cover the distance in lesser time.

If the subject hasn’t made it to the line in the required time, the runner must catch up with the pace in the next two beeps otherwise he will fail.

For a better understanding of the Yoyo test, have a look at these videos:

It is good news for Pakistan considering that the youngsters are doing good in such fitness tests. Mickey Arthur would need better results from the players like Sarfaraz Ahmed and Imad Wasim and we for one think that they hopefully improve their game.