Reports: Top Pakistani players fail to meet fitness standards

After Pakistan’s former coach Grant Flower said that the players don't have good fitness standards, some of the players failed to meet the required fitness standards set by fitness trainer Grant Luden. Key players including Umar Akmal and T20 captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and others failed in the fitness tests.

Other players who also failed in different fitness tests were Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar and Sohaib Maqsood along with other members of the team. According to a PCB official some of the players failed to attain the required points in different fitness tests set by Grant Luden.

He said, "The fitness trainer of the Pakistan team, Grant Luden, and his team have devised a points system for the fitness tests with 17 set as the benchmark for players to confirm their fitness is of required level. Unfortunately, some players could not reach the benchmark."

The PCB official then explained the purpose of these fitness tests. Contracted players are given goals to achieve in three months and those who fail will be fined but the players who stand out in these tests will be financially rewarded.

Some players allege double standards

The four-day long series of fitness tests began on 8 May at the National Cricket Academy. During the tests reports came out in Pakistani media that some players are unhappy over the alleged double standards of the tests. They alleged Luden and his team of not being fair to all players.

The players complained that some members including Pakistani ODI captain Azhar Ali, fast bowler Wahab Riaz went through soft tests while other players were put through rather harsh regimes by the fitness team.

However, the PCB official termed the allegations as baseless and said that the players attending the tests were in different groups and the claims don’t have much merit. The PCB has also employed a sports psychologist and nutritionist Asad Rizvi to hold counseling session with the cricketers during the three-month long fitness campaign.

Misbah and Younis are the fittest players despite being the oldest players

Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who joined tests on 10 May after returning from performing Umrah interestingly is one of the two fittest players in the team. The other fittest player in the program is said to be senior batsman Younis Khan.

These two are the eldest players in the current Pakistani team. Younis is said to have topped the tests with 18 points despite being on the wrong side of the 30s. Younis is 38 while the Test captain is 41 but both of them passed the tests.