Bronco Test: A yo-yo cousin, is it the new dirty word for Indian cricketers?

Is Bronco Test the new dirty word in Indian cricket ? It’s still early days to sit in judgement about it, but fact remains that the new endurance test under the direction of Adrian Le Roux, the South African strength and conditioning coach who has made a comeback in the dressing room, is planning to introducing a fitness benchmark normally reserved for sports rugby, football and hockey.

 It’s in this context that the news of Rohit Sharma, still the captain of ODI team and a white ball giant, being summoned to the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru for the fitness tests on 13 September assumes a great deal of significance. While the Big Two of Rohit and Virat Kohli are expected to make a hugely anticipated comeback for the three-match ODI series against Australia in October, there is a legitimate query about pursuing with both unless they fit into Gautam Gambhir’s plans for the 2027 ICC World Cup.

 The intensity and fitness that Bronco Test demands, a notch above of the yoyo test introduced during the Kohli regime, will be a challenging one for the ‘Hitman’ to negotiate – though the later has started bracing up for the tough grind ahead in Mumbai under the watchful eyes of Abhishek Nayar.

Kohli, known for a manic fitness regime right from his peak period of 2014-15, is also reported to be working out to take this test which requires an athlete to sprint a total of 1,200 metres broken into five segments (240m each) at an average of five to six minutes.

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A tall order in a sport like cricket, which experts term as a ‘stop-and-start’ sport with a different fitness quotient altogether. Explaining the difference between the erstwhile Yo-Yo test and the Bronco, a senior fitness expert said: ‘’The Yo-Yo test needs you to take shuttle runs with beeps and hence it was more suited to the needs of cricket. The maximum distance that a cricketer has to cover is around 30-35 yards while taking three runs at one go is considered as the longest stretch one has to cover. You don’t need to run middle distance for it.’’

 Speaking to National Herald, Chinmoy Roy, a former physiotherapist at National Cricket Academy (NCA) and Kolkata-based fitness trainer recalled:  ‘’During my tenure there, I remember M.S.Dhoni sprinting for his three runs at 8.91 seconds as one of the best efforts. Both Yo-Yo and Bronco are cardiovascular endurance tests alright, but I am not too sure if introducing the later one for cricketers is advisable.’’

 There is a perception that Le Roux, a marathoner and triathlete who was a part of the Indian dressing room back in 2002-2003, will be trying something different and more rigorous to establish his footprint – a move which of course has the buy-in from Gambhir. While Rohit, now 38 and never quite the natural athlete, seems to be a sitting duck for failing to negotiate the test successfully – there are other much younger players who may fail the challenge.

Manoj Tiwary, former India cricketerSee, I’m a very keen observer of what things are going on in Indian cricket. And I believe this Bronco Test, which was introduced a few days back, I think it is for the players like Rohit Sharma. Someone who I believe doesn’t want them to be part of the team in future. And that's why it has been introduced

Breaking down his point, Roy said that as’ professional athletes,’ the cricketers should be available to come across it at a moderate speed. ‘’However, if a time limit is set – for example an elite rugby back is supposed to run it under five minutes – then it’s going to be a serious challenge. The standard set for recreational athletes to complete the 1.2 kms is to six to seven minutes and that could be an ideal one for cricketers,’’ he said.

 Interestingly, a former India cricketer sees a pattern behind the timing of introducing this test. Speaking to a website CricTracker, Manoj Tiwary – also a Minister of State for Sport in Bengal, said:  ‘’I think it will be very difficult to keep Kohli out of the plans for the 2027 World Cup. But I have a doubt that they are going to look at Rohit Sharma into the scheme of things.

  ‘’See, I’m a very keen observer of what things are going on in Indian cricket. And I believe this Bronco Test, which was introduced a few days back, I think it is for the players like Rohit Sharma. Someone who I believe doesn’t want them to be part of the team in future. And that's why it has been introduced.’’

 What is Bronco Test?

 It’s a running fitness test commonly used in rugby, football (soccer) and increasingly in other field disciplines to measure aerobic capacity and repeat sprint endurance.

 Mode of examination

 * Three markers are set on a rugby/football pitch at 20m, 40m and 60m

* The athlete starts on the try line and attempts the sequence of:

   Sprint to 20m and back to start

   Sprint to 40m and back to start

   Sprint to 60m and back to start

The whole sequence, hence, comprises of 240 m (40m; 80m & 120m). An athlete has to repeat it five times non-stop, making it one Bronco Test = 1200m (1.2 km)

 What it measures

·       Time is the outcome measure

·       Ability to repeat high intensity runs with minimal recovery

·       Game-specific conditioning for sports that needs bursts of speed & recovery