In heartening news for Team India and Gujarat Titans fans, all-rounder Hardik Pandya has cleared the Yo-Yo test with flying colours and is all set to lead the new IPL franchise in what is expected to be a gruelling and extremely crucial season for the Baroda cricketer.
Ahead of the 15th season of the highly-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is conducting a two-day fitness session for players who are coming back after an injury at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
Pandya has been out of the Indian set-up since the end of the T20 World Cup in the UAE last October due to the recurring back injury issues that have prevented him from bowling regularly in the previous two and a half years.
The 28-year old has been working on his fitness in the last 3-4 months, and it seems that his hard work is finally materialising into something good.
According to a BCCI official, the hard-hitting batsman not only passed the fitness test with a score of over 17, but he also went on to bowl at close to 135 kilometres per hour despite it not being a mandatory parameter to pass the test.
"Let's make it clear. Fitness test clearance is only for those who are coming back from injury. In the case of Hardik, it was about getting a general fitness assessment going into the gruelling IPL season," a BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI.
"He is an asset and one needed to check his current fitness standards. He didn't need to bowl at NCA but he has bowled for a considerable time and in the range of 135 kmph. On the second day, he crossed the Yo-Yo test with flying colours with a 17-plus score which is much above the cut-off level," the source said.
The development would undoubtedly be music to the ears of Hardik's fans as well as the owners of Gujarat Titans. They have taken a massive punt on the all-rounder as they get ready to make their debut in the lucrative T20 league.
Hardik's fitness and his bowling form will also be crucial for Team India as he is one of the rare cricketers in the white-ball set-up who possess the skills of being a hard-hitting finisher and someone who can regularly chip in as a seamer.
Gujarat will kickstart their IPL 2022 campaign against fellow debutante, the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Supergiants, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 28.