Sanju Samson’s career took a big hit after the promising youngster was dropped from the Rahul Dravid-coached India A squad which departed for a tour of England on Sunday.
Samson, who was initially named in the squad, was left out at the last minute after reportedly failing the Yo-Yo test – an endurance-specific running workout, similar to the beep test, which monitors overall fitness.
According to a report by the Times of India, the 23-year-old fell some way short of the benchmark for the Yo-Yo test which has been set at the 16.1 mark.
The Yo-Yo test has emerged as the preferred method for the Indian team in recent times to gauge the fitness level of the players with veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh famously failing the test last year.
Samson was to be a part of the India A squad which will take on the England Lions and West Indies A team in a triangular limited-overs series. However, this latest setback will do no favours to the Kerala-born batsman who has been earmarked as one of the promising stars for the future of Indian cricket.
Sanju Samson had a decent IPL 2018. Image: BCCI
The 23-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman initially burst onto the scene as a teenager with some scintillating performances for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.
He put in some more promising showings in the IPL this year on his return to the franchise after doing well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Ranji Trophy for Kerala.
The Times of India report does go on to add that sources at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) have said that Samson was suffering from a few niggles and hence the low score in the fitness test.
Whether there is any truth in the report remains to be seen, but what cannot be denied is that this is a big blow for the youngster who has so far played only one T20I for the country which came against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2015.