There was a time when fitness and Indian cricket didn't quite go hand in glove. Sure, there were anomalies to this but as a group, India weren't known to produce agile and fit cricketers. The priorities back then used to be on the skill-set with not much focus given to fitness regimes as they are today.
Fast-forward to 2025 and India's cricketers amongst the fittest in the world with the standard of fielding being a massive overhaul from the 1980s and 1990s. Apart from individual fitness regimes, the collective fitness tests have also played a huge role raising the standards of the team. The yo-yo test started a trend and while it had mixed opinions from experts and former cricketers, the results were emphatic to say the least. Now, the latest update is that India's cricketers will henceforth also undergo a new form of test, called the Bronco test, to determine their fitness levels, along with their mental and physical conditioning measurements.
ALSO READ
- India Women vs Sri Lanka Women: Shafali Verma's blazing fifty creates new world record; also joins Smriti Mandhana in unique milestone club
- WATCH: Bus Driver secretly records Virat Kohli exiting Delhi's team bus on Vijay Hazare Trophy matchday
- 'He is fully ready for 2027 ODI World Cup': Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma lauds superstar's return to domestic cricket
The inception of Bronco test comes from Rugby where the sports dynamics has massive dependence on physical and mental conditioning. From the outset, the sport appears to be heavily inclined towards an athlete's physical side alone, but mental conditioning is of equal importance there. The key aspect of Bronco test is to extend the cardiovascual limits while also helping to optimise the aerobic endurance levels of players. The idea of implementing this test with the Indian team came from strength and conditioning coach Adrian le Roux, who started his second stint with the national side in June. le Roux was previously involved in the 2000s and has also been part of the IPL setup earlier.
Its origins are in rugby, but the Bronco fitness test is being used increasingly in football pre-season to determine players MAS.
— STATSports (@statsports) July 9, 2024
Essentially it’s a 1200m shuttle run.
Four markers: 0m, 20m, 40m, and 60m.
Run from 0m-60m-0m-40m-0m-20m-0m (total of 240m)
5 reps as fast as… pic.twitter.com/IrrpQPAbIE
What is a Bronco test?
The test deals with shuttle runs, meaning constant to and fro runs between two relentlessly. The distance will be 20 metres, 40 metres and 60 metres, with five sets to be completed within six minutes. It means a cumulative distance of 1.2 kilometers without a break. This will help to determine an estimation of the speed, stamina and conditioning levels of a player. The existing Yo-Yo Test and trial run of 2 kilometres will also continue to be in the assessment, making it a thorough examination of a player's fitness levels.
During India's recent tour of England, fitness of the fast bowlers was especially under the scanner, with workload management increasingly being a talked about topic. Former cricketers have often shown their disagreement towards this term but it is a reality in today's packed international calendar. That said, the fitness levels of India's bowlers on the England tour were off the mark and perhaps, all this has spurred le Roux into getting this new test on board.
