Virat Kohli gets special exemption from BCCI, undergoes fitness test in London

Virat Kohli gets special exemption from BCCI (BCCI Photo)

Virat Kohli was the only active player to do his fitness test in London, where he presently resides with his family, while the majority of Indian players traveled to Bengaluru for the same. A report in Dainik Jagaran stated that while majority of the players flew to Bengaluru for their fitness tests, Kohli requested special permission from BCCI to have it conducted in the United Kingdom. Even though Kohli passed the test, this special exemption will certainly lead to fresh controversy. As per the report, Kohli did the test under authorised supervision in London.

The squad for Asia Cup 2025 will soon be boarding a plane to UAE, with the tournament scheduled to start from September 9. As per the Hindi national daily, the following players have completed their fitness tests, either completely or in part: 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, Hardik Pandya, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Basic strength tests and evaluations of the yo-yo scores were part of the fitness exams.

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According to the report the tests for Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja will be conducted this month. KL Rahul, Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant are among the players who are expected to be tested in phase two of the tests.

The report further mentioned only Virat had asked for the exemption. A BCCI official who was questioned about Kohli's situation stated that the legendary cricketer would have been granted permission for such a request. The report also notes that it is now unknown whether or not any other player looking for a similar solution will be granted the same exception.

The BCCI has taken fitness more seriously in light of the men's team's lengthy injury list. Before being included in any squad, cricketers must now pass a fitness test mandated by the board.