Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s former director of cricket, has made shocking revelations about the Pakistan cricket team’s fitness standards. Hafeez claims that both Babar Azam, the former captain, and his predecessor Mickey Arthur instructed the management not to prioritize the fitness of the players.
Hafeez, who was recently removed from his position as director of cricket after Pakistan‘s poor performance in the New Zealand T20I series, expressed his dissatisfaction on a Pakistani sports channel. He stated, “When we went to Australia, I told the players to take care of their fitness levels. I also asked the trainer about the fitness of the players. He told me a shocking thing that six months ago captain (Babar Azam) and Director of Cricket (Mickey Arthur) told me to stop checking the players on the fitness parameters and let them play the way they want.”
Pakistan’s performance has been disappointing since the ODI World Cup 2023, where they failed to reach the semifinals. Babar Azam and Mickey Arthur were subsequently removed from their roles. Under the new leadership of Shan Masood (Test) and Shaheen Afridi (T20I), Pakistan’s performance did not improve, leading to series losses in Australia and New Zealand.
Hafeez highlighted that some players were unable to complete a 2-kilometer run due to their poor fitness levels. He mentioned, “When the fat levels of the players were checked, the skin fold of all of them was high – for most players it was 1.5 times the limit. They were unfit and some of them couldn’t complete a 2 KM trial run. The decision taken 6 months back overruled the set criteria for fitness. You will suffer defeats if the fitness is like that.”
His remarks shed light on the internal issues within the Pakistan cricket team, particularly regarding fitness standards and player management.
Published By: Kingshuk Kusari
Published On: Feb 21, 2024
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