Inside India’s Practice Session: Players Took Bronco Test Before Pakistan Game
Inside India’s Practice Session: Players Took Bronco Test Before Pakistan Game
A behind-the-scenes training video showed Team India grinding through the Bronco Test in Dubai, a relentless shuttle-run drill added to the fitness menu ahead of the Asia Cup clash against Pakistan. Strength and conditioning coach Adrian Le Roux, now in his second stint with the national side, broke down the test on camera—what it is, why it works, and how the staff will use it both to train and to measure where the squad stands.
What happened in the session
Indian players were filmed running repeated shuttles across cones set on a 60‑metre grid, with coaches tracking times and cues. Le Roux explained that the run isn’t new in sport, but it is new in this team environment: a simple, portable field test that can be set up on any ground, used to build aerobic capacity and to benchmark it. The aim, he said, is to complement cricket skills with conditioning that lasts across overs, formats, and a congested calendar.
What is the Bronco Test
The Bronco is a continuous shuttle: start at 0 m, sprint to 60 m and back, then 40 m and back, then 20 m and back—one set totals 240 metres. Five uninterrupted sets complete the drill at 1,200 metres, and the current internal standard asks India’s players to finish it in under six minutes. There are no breaks, which is the point: sustained pace and repeat change-of-direction under rising fatigue.
Why India adopted it now
Modern cricket demands longer aerobic engines than a decade ago, especially for players who field for 40–50 overs and then bat, or fast bowlers who turn over spells across formats. Le Roux’s case for the Bronco is twofold. First, it is a training tool that hits match‑like running, not just treadmill miles. Second, it is a clean measurement—a time on a track that travels with the team anywhere in the world, letting coaches compare like-for-like across camps and tours.
Bronco vs Yo‑Yo: the key differences
Feature | Bronco Test | Yo‑Yo Test |
|---|---|---|
Endurance type | Continuous aerobic stamina | Intermittent endurance with micro-rests |
Format | 1,200 m nonstop (20–40–60 m shuttles x 5 sets) | 20 m shuttles to audio beeps, staged intensities |
What it stresses | Pace under fatigue, change-of-direction, pacing strategy | Repeat burst-and-recover capacity, acceleration timing |
Why it’s useful now | Mirrors batting/fielding runs strung together without scripted pauses | Mirrors stop-start phases, especially limited-overs bursts |
What coaches are measuring
The staff look for honest pacing, minimal fall-off across sets, and clean turns at each cone—signs of both base fitness and footwork quality. Times help tailor loads by role: top-order batters need sustainable tempo, middle-order hitters need sharpness late in sets, and fast bowlers must hold speed with minimal drop. Translating to cricket, that’s stronger sprint‑repeat between wickets, better boundary chases under fatigue, and tighter angles into throws when legs are heavy.
Le Roux’s wider brief
Le Roux framed his objective simply: extend careers by keeping bodies robust for the work that cricket actually asks of them. Preparation in his model is skill‑first, with conditioning as an enabler: if players are physically ready, they can show their skills more often and under stress. He called his early weeks back “exciting”, citing the squad’s work ethic and a 2–2 fightback in England as the kind of resilience this conditioning underwrites.
What it means before Pakistan
In the Gulf heat and on quick outfields, a deeper aerobic base pays off fast—fewer sloppy singles conceded, sharper rotations in the ring, and crisper running when chases compress. The Bronco times won’t pick the XI, but they do send signals: who is trending up, who needs tapering, and who can be asked to hold a role deeper into a spell or innings. With short turnarounds, that clarity is currency.