'Breach of contract clause': BCCI top bosses take action after Virat Kohli posts test score on Instagram

Ace cricketer Virat Kohli's social media post on Thursday reportedly irked the top bosses of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after he shared his yo-yo fitness test score. The Indian cricketer on Thursday scored 17.2 in the yo-yo fitness test ahead of the Asia Cup starting next month.  

Taking to Instagram, Kohli wrote that he had passed the yo-yo test with a score of 17.2. The BCCI-mandated fitness parameter is 16.5.  

“The happiness of finishing the yo-yo est between the dreaded cones. 17.2 done,” Kohli wrote along with a photo of himself on the ground.  

The Yo-Yo test, which was developed by Danish football physiologist Jens Bangsbo, was first introduced to the Indian cricket team during Kohli’s fitness-focused captaincy reign.  

A few hours after his post, the Indian team management reportedly came up with a strict guideline for all Indian cricketers. The players were asked not to post their yo-yo test scores on social media or any platform as it was “confidential information”. The directive came from BCCI's top management, reported The Indian Express. 

“Players have been informed verbally to avoid posting any confidential matter on social media platforms. They can post pictures while training but posting a score leads to breach of contract clause,” a BCCI official reportedly said. 

The Indian cricket team is at Alur, Bangalore, for a preparatory camp ahead of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. Top players, who were given a 13-day fitness programme, will undergo a complete body test, the report said. 

The fitness programme, divided into two parts with a rest-day in between, was to be followed from August 9-22. 

As per the BCCI plan, trainers are scheduled to test the fitness of the players and those who don’t meet standards will be pulled up as the BCCI wants to avoid taking a chance this year with World Cup coming up in two months. Players who returned from the West Indies tour and are not playing in the ongoing three-match T20 series against Ireland were asked to follow the 13-day programme. 

This includes Team India captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, PTI reported.  

Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma, who were a part of the Indian side that beat Ireland 2-0 in the three-match T20I series, are expected to join the camp on Friday. 

India will play all their matches in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. They start their campaign against Pakistan on September 2. 

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