Cricketers' fitness is one of the most important criteria for being selected in a tournament. However, an extensive focus on fitness sometimes leads to injuries, which let players miss the upcoming series.
Recently, Pakistan's Azam Khan, Mohammad Rizwan and Irfan Niazi were dropped from the national team against New Zealand series, as all three of them were injured. Azam had a calf injury, while Rizwan and Niazi were sidelined with hamstring injuries after the third T20I, reported ESPNCricinfo.
With critics accusing Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi of forcing Pakistan's players to train with the military during the last few days of Ramzan, Naqvi rejected the camp had anything to do with players' injuries.
Briefing a press conference, Naqvi said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, "Injuries never occur due to fitness training."
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He added, "People have got various theories around how to make players fit. Fitness has never been a focus of Pakistan managements in the past.
"I am not criticising anyone that came before me but look at players from the rest of the world. Pakistan players' fitness is well below that. This is just the start, we will have to ramp up player fitness even more. If I need to bring in fitness experts from around the world, I will."
Echoing a similar tone, Pakistan's newly appointed all-format assistant coach Azhar Mahmood said, "Kakul training had nothing to do with cricket. The injury the players sustained happened [while] playing cricket, and the training had to do with physical fitness. If the players were injured, they wouldn't have played the first game. And Azam Khan was not injured before the series, he was injured in the nets."
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024, PCB on Sunday has appointed Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie as the men's team head coaches.
According to details, Kirsten will take over as Pakistan's white-ball coach after the current IPL 2024 season.
