What is DEXA? All about BCCI’s new selection criteria for Team India, how ‘injured’ players will be screened

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held a review meet of Team India’s performance and hours of brainstorming decided the re-introduce the mandatory Yo-Yo test, as one of the main selection criteria for different formats of the game.

The Board also a new Dual Energy X-ray absorptiometry Test (DEXA) for injured players who are seeking a comeback to the team after injury.

The DEXA scan is the newest thing to added into the checklist of team selectors. Cricketers will have to undertake this before entering the dressing room.

The Yo-Yo test is not a new criteria for selection. It was introduced some years ago and was a mandatory test that every player had to go through. Those clearing the Yo-Yo were deemed fit for selection into the squad.

Under the Yo-Yo test, those players with highest scores were considered super fit while the ones with less scores had to face a ‘cooling period’ before seeking place in the squad again.

How DEXA will screen players?

After the long review meet, BCCI in a statement said that Yo-Yo test and DEXA are two new additions list of things and will be applied to the central pool of players.

DEXA is actually a X-ray technology that studies bone strength of players and then decides their fitness levels depending on the bone density. The DEXA test assesses the bone strength and also predicts if the bones are prone to any kind of fracture/injury.

For studying bone density, a cricketer will be exposed to two kinds of X-ray beams – high energy & low energy. As the two beams pass through bones of players, it will emit certain amount of rays, which when measured gives ample understanding about person’s bone strength & in turn will prepare their fitness level report for the game.