Hardik Singh.
Credit: PTI File Photo
India's star midfielder and double Olympic medallist Hardik Singh has claimed that hockey players have a much higher Yo-Yo Test score than Indian cricketers, proving that the players of hockey are much fitter than cricketers.
Singh stated that the players of his team have way higher scores in the Yo-Yo Test compared to the scores of the Indian cricketers.
This test which is used widely across the world to test the fitness of sportspersons based on the scores.
A video clip of Hardik Singh, on a podcast, has been making several rounds on the Internet wherein the hockey star said, "In cricket if anyone is scoring 19 or 20 on the Yo-Yo Test, people call it the fittest, whereas Sreejesh, who is a goalkeeper, scores 21 in the test."
Hardik said that Indian men's hockey team players score around 23 in their Yo-Yo Test, whereas Indian cricket players, who are considered the fittest, score around 17-18 in such tests.
Hardik, further explaining about the test, said that the main level starts from 15, there are 8 sprints and it goes on like that till 23.8. He also added that the hockey team has seven players who have achieved 23.8.
The midfielder also mentioned that the test score of the junior girls (hockey team) is 17-18, and that his team’s average Yo-Yo Test is 22-23.
Hardik Singh was part of the Indian men's hockey teams that won two consecutive bronze medals at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. However, due to an injury sustained during the Paris Games, he was not able to be compete in the recent Asian Champions Trophy, where India defended their title.