India’s Top Cricketers Face Fitness Test Days After Gruelling Sri Lanka Series

India’s centrally contracted cricketers wasted little time switching from the rigours of Test cricket to pre-season preparations, reporting for mandatory fitness assessments at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Saturday, less than 48 hours after the end of their two-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Despite spending long hours on the field during the series, several Test regulars were back in training as the Indian team management began preparing players for an eight-month schedule that will run through to the 2027 Indian Premier League.

Senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal were among those undergoing the tests. T20I captain Shreyas Iyer, along with white-ball specialists Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson and Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, also took part.

The assessment programme includes the Bronco Test, 2km run, YoYo test and cricket-specific drills, including running between the wickets. The Bronco Test requires players to repeatedly cover distances between 20m, 40m and 60m without a break, completing 1,200m in around five-and-a-half minutes.

The established benchmarks include a YoYo test score of 16.5 and completing the 2km run within 10 minutes.

However, leading fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy are being handled differently. Bumrah, Pandya and Reddy will undergo the drills once they are declared fully fit, as they continue their rehabilitation. Siraj and Prasidh Krishna have been temporarily exempted after bowling heavily in consecutive Tests in Sri Lanka.

There was encouraging news for Prince Yadav, who suffered a hamstring niggle during India’s tour of the UK. He has recovered and is now available for selection.

India’s new season begins in September with a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in New Delhi. The schedule then becomes even more demanding, with India’s first-choice T20 players set to travel to Japan for the Asian Games while another group of white-ball specialists faces the West Indies at home.

An India A series against Australia A in Puducherry from late September to mid-October will add another layer to an already crowded calendar, making fitness and workload management crucial for India’s campaign over the coming months.