AB de Villiers calls India's new fitness drill Bronco Test, ‘one of the worst': 'Those lungs would burn’

[Hitman]

Former South Africa captain and legendary batter AB de Villiers sounded alarm bells about the much-discussed Bronco Test, calling it one of the most gruelling fitness drills he’s ever done. Strength and conditioning coach Adrian Le Roux recently introduced the fitness test in Indian cricket, sparking conversation around player endurance and selection standards.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, de Villiers revealed that he was introduced to the drill early in his career and recalled just how demanding it can be.

“I actually didn't even know when the team told me about it. I said, ‘What is a Bronco Test?’ But when they explained it to me, I knew exactly what it was. I've been doing it ever since I was 16 years old,” de Villiers said. “Over here in South Africa, we call it the sprint repeat ability test.”

The former batter, known for his explosive agility and elite fitness during his playing days, admitted that the test often left him gasping for air — especially in South African conditions.

“It’s one of the worst you can do,” he added. “I very clearly remember at the University of Pretoria, also at SuperSport Park, in the cold winter mornings of South Africa in particular, where there’s not a lot of oxygen. The altitude here is, I think, 1,500 meters above sea level. So, not a lot of oxygen, and those lungs would burn.”

The Bronco Test is a continuous shuttle run drill that includes repeated sprints over 20m, 40m, and 60m, performed five times in succession without breaks — covering a total of 1,200 metres. Unlike the Yo-Yo test, it is continuous and tests cardiovascular endurance and aerobic capacity under high stress.

With Indian cricket placing renewed emphasis on fitness, the introduction of the Bronco Test by Le Roux — who previously worked with the Indian team in the early 2000s and has vast experience in South Africa and the IPL — signals a new benchmark for conditioning, especially for the team’s transition into a more demanding multi-format calendar.

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Link: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...t-those-lungs-would-burn-101756459002890.html​

 

[Ball Blazer]

What Is The Bronco Test? Explaining BCCI's New Fitness Test And Its Comparison To Yo-Yo Test

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has introduced an all-new Bronco Test to measure the fitness abilities of players contending for spots in the Indian men's national team. It is a test that pushes athletes to increase their cardiovascular limits. The Bronco test might be new to cricket, but it has long been used in rugby as a high-intensity running drill.

The test is used to measure an athlete's aerobic endurance, speed, and ability to recover from fatigue. While rugby remains a much more intense sport than cricket, the amount of cricket that is being played in India these days does require players to have higher endurance than arguably a decade before. Hence, the introduction of the Bronco test.

How Does the Bronco Test Work?

The Bronco test assesses a player's cardiovascular health in a simple, yet challenging, manner. Here's a look at the setup:

Four markers or cones are placed at distances of 0m, 20m, 40m, and 60m from a starting line.

A player starts at the baseline (0m) and performs a series of shuttle runs, which involves:

- Running to the 20m marker and returning to the start.

- Running to the 40m marker and returning to the start.

- Running to the 60m marker and returning to the start.

Once the player completes all three shuttle runs, up to the 60-meter marker, one set is completed. In one set, the player covers a total distance of 240 meters.

The player has to complete a total of 5 sets of the 240m circuit, thereby covering a total distance of 1,200 meters. Upon successful completion of the 5 sets, the player's time is recorded.

What Does the Bronco Test Help Measure?

It assesses a player's capacity to sustain high-intensity effort over a prolonged period. Running between the wickets is where players make such runs during the course of a cricket match.

It requires repeated changes of direction and bursts of speed. During fielding, players are often required to chase shots racing towards the boundary, pick up the ball, change direction, and swiftly throw it back to the pitch area.

To endure such bursts of running in a short span of time isn't easy on the mind. As players are tasked to increase their cardiovascular ability, their mental toughness is also put to a stern test.

How Is Bronco Test Different From Yo-Yo Test?

One of the biggest differences between the Bronco test and the Yo-Yo test is the fact that while the Yo-Yo test measures intermittent endurance, the Bronco test measures continuous aerobic endurance and stamina. There are brief rest periods in the Yo-Yo test, while no such rest period exists in the Bronco test.

Source: NDTV

 

[Asad T]

Would love to see if our cricketers could do it loll

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I'm not sure the need for this level in cricket.

Sure it makes sense for high impact sports like rugby, and a good level of fitness is necessary for cricket too but this seems like overkill.

 

[RexRex]

It doesn't look too bad. But fatso Rohit Sharma would have tapped out, no wonder he retired.

 

[Sachin fan]

It doesn't look too bad. But fatso Rohit Sharma would have tapped out, no wonder he retired.

Rohit actually passed this test with flying colors this week and everyone was impressed by his performance.

https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/rohit-sharma-undergoes-bronco-test-this-is-the-result-report-9192582

 

[AZulfi]

Can help running between the wickets / steal singles provided you have the ability to hit the ball into gaps (that’s the first requirement!)

 

[Major]

I'm not sure the need for this level in cricket.

Sure it makes sense for high impact sports like rugby, and a good level of fitness is necessary for cricket too but this seems like overkill.

Not sure if this bronco test is to test the fitness or increase their fitness, but the bleep test had a different purpose.

The purpose of bleep test isnt to make one agile or increase his fitness. It was one of the most simplest and the best way to assess whether the person is fit or not. You can easily pull out all the unfit sports people from such tests.

But running shuttles is one of the worst, and i also used to hate them. shuttles are not really a test but i think a way to increase your stamina and agility.

 

[pratiktc]

Cricket is a game of short explosive bursts amidst periods of stillness. This needs fast twitch fibers and more focus on flexibility, core strength and explosive.

It is only fast bowlers who need high level endurance level fitness and will look body type physically similiar to running intensive athletes like footballers.

Rets of players fans really cannot assess fitness capability of from simply photos. Rohit Sharma is also in similar category. He is functionally fitter than most give credit for and even last fielding coach R Sridhar mentioned same in his book. Sanju Samson is also of a similiar build.

On the other hand someone like an R Ashwin is not in the least overweight but does not have the explosiveness or twitch fibres and thus he is functionally slow moving although visually he does not look so bad.

 

[Hitman]

Virat Kohli Lone Indian Player To Give Fitness Test In London, BCCI 'Exemption' Triggers Row: Report​

​

As most of the Indian players reached the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for their fitness tests, Virat Kohli remained the only active player to give his test in London, where he is currently residing with his family. According to a report, Kohli sought special permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to undergo his fitness test in the United Kingdom, while most of the other players in the team flew to Bengaluru for their fitness examination. Though Kohli passed the test, the special exemption for the mandatory fitness examinations to be done in London is bound to trigger a debate.

The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, etc., all reportedly passed their fitness tests in Bengaluru. Kohli, on the other hand, also did so, but in London under approved supervision, as per a report in Dainik Jagran.

Most of the currently active players have undergone their fitness tests, but a few still remain due to injury or unavailability. Members of India's T20I squad are set to fly to the United Arab Emirates soon for the Asia Cup 2025 campaign. Kohli isn't a part of India's squad for the Asia Cup, being held in the T20 format this time, as he has retired from the shortest form of the game.

The Hindi daily further claimed that the players who have given their fitness tests (fully or partially) are: Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Jitesh Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhinav Manohar, Rinku Singh, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Mukesh Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The fitness tests included assessments of the players' yo-yo scores and basic strength tests. As per the report, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja are among the top stars whose tests will be done this month.

Phase 2 of the tests is also to be done, where the likes of KL Rahul, Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant will reportedly be tested.

It has also been reported that Virat was the only player whose test was done outside the country. None of the other player sought such an exemption. When a BCCI official was asked about Virat's case, he reportedly said that the iconic cricketer would've taken approval for such a request. However, the report also adds that it isn't yet known if such an exemption can be given to any other player seeking a similar solution or not.

Seeing the men's national team's long injury list, the BCCI and the team management have become more serious about fitness. The board has now made it mandatory for every cricketer to undergo a fitness test before being selected for any squad.

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Link: https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/vir...n-london-bccis-exemption-triggers-row-9207053​

 

[Hitman]

Virat Kohli Lone Indian Player To Give Fitness Test In London, BCCI 'Exemption' Triggers Row: Report​

​

As most of the Indian players reached the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for their fitness tests, Virat Kohli remained the only active player to give his test in London, where he is currently residing with his family. According to a report, Kohli sought special permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to undergo his fitness test in the United Kingdom, while most of the other players in the team flew to Bengaluru for their fitness examination. Though Kohli passed the test, the special exemption for the mandatory fitness examinations to be done in London is bound to trigger a debate.

The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, etc., all reportedly passed their fitness tests in Bengaluru. Kohli, on the other hand, also did so, but in London under approved supervision, as per a report in Dainik Jagran.

Most of the currently active players have undergone their fitness tests, but a few still remain due to injury or unavailability. Members of India's T20I squad are set to fly to the United Arab Emirates soon for the Asia Cup 2025 campaign. Kohli isn't a part of India's squad for the Asia Cup, being held in the T20 format this time, as he has retired from the shortest form of the game.

The Hindi daily further claimed that the players who have given their fitness tests (fully or partially) are: Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Jitesh Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhinav Manohar, Rinku Singh, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Mukesh Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The fitness tests included assessments of the players' yo-yo scores and basic strength tests. As per the report, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja are among the top stars whose tests will be done this month.

Phase 2 of the tests is also to be done, where the likes of KL Rahul, Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant will reportedly be tested.

It has also been reported that Virat was the only player whose test was done outside the country. None of the other player sought such an exemption. When a BCCI official was asked about Virat's case, he reportedly said that the iconic cricketer would've taken approval for such a request. However, the report also adds that it isn't yet known if such an exemption can be given to any other player seeking a similar solution or not.

Seeing the men's national team's long injury list, the BCCI and the team management have become more serious about fitness. The board has now made it mandatory for every cricketer to undergo a fitness test before being selected for any squad.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link: https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/vir...n-london-bccis-exemption-triggers-row-9207053​

https://twitter.com/x/status/1963215578950205515

 

[BouncerGuy]

Fitness is important and India gives it much more importance than their neighbours...But giving special treatment to VIrat... LOL