Good news for the England camp – over half of the 31 players on the Pakistan cricket team have failed fitness tests they were sent on in order to prepare for their upcoming England tour. So who knows? The home cricket nets could fall in our favour this year.
Speaking to PTI, a source confirmed that, aside from a couple of players, the rest of the team have failed to impress military trainers, fielding coaches and fitness trainers in drills including steep climbing, hurdles sprints, 100m sprints and long distance running, India Today reports.
While batsman Younis Khan, opener Shaan Masood, Fawad Alam and Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq all performed well in the fitness tests, the rest of the team will have to participate in a strenuous training schedule that involves getting up at 7:00 and doing drills until midday.
The source went on to say: “The [Pakistan Cricket Board] has made it very clear that fitness will be a key element while deciding the touring squad for England. One reason for the decline in the team’s performances in the limited-over format in recent months has been a general low level of fitness among the players.”
Earlier this month, the cricket board announced that Mickey Arthur would be taking over from Waqar Younis as head coach of the Pakistan national cricket team following Younis’s resignation. It’s thought that Arthur – who played 110 first class games as a batsman for South Africa and as a coach, led the national team to number one rankings across all formats – will join the team by the end of the month.
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