In recent years, especially under the super-fit Virat Kohli, passing the yo-yo test is complusory criteria for selection in the Indian cricket team.
When Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Tewatia failed to clear the yo-yo test, they were dropped from the team playing the T20I series against England. Tewatia pased the test in his second attempt and joined the squad, but Chakravarthy could not do so.
Virender Sehwag believes that skills and not fitness should be the criterion for selection in the Indian team.
In a video posted on CricBuzz, the only Indian to score two triple Test tons declared, 'Skill is important. Today if you are playing a fit team but don't have the skills, then you would ultimately end up losing.'
'Play them based on their skills, slowly you can improve their fitness over time, but if the yo-yo criteria is applied straightaway, then the talks are different,' Sehwag added.
'If a player can field and bowl 10 overs, that should be enough, we shouldn't be concerned about the other things,' the swashbuckling batsman asserted.
If the yo-yo test existed in his playing days, Sehwag predicted that legends Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V V S Laxman may not have been picked in the Indian team.
Sachin, Dada, VVS, Sehwag revealed, often missed the desired mark of 12.5 in the beep test that was conducted during their playing days.
