The players of Pakistan cricket team will undergo fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on 6 and 7 January, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Friday. “All the available centrally contracted players will attend the two-day testing, which is aligned to their contracts. Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Shadab Khan, who will be occupied with their commitments in the Bangladesh Premier League, will undergo the tests on 20 and 21 January,” the PCB statement read.
The Pakistan team has often come under the scanner for its players not being fit enough to play at the international level. In the statement, the PCB further said that a player failing to meet the minimum fitness requirements will be fined 15 % of his monthly salary, which will remain effective until the player achieves minimum fitness standards. It also said that constant failure to meet fitness requirements will cause the player to lose his central contract.
“There has always been an emphasis on the monitoring of players’ fitness levels,” Zakir Khan, PCB – Director, International Cricket, was quoted as saying in the statement. “This time we have decided to enforce penalties, which is in accordance with the contracts, as part of our objective to make the players more accountable and responsible for maintaining high fitness standards throughout the year, which is one of the basic requirements any professional athlete.”
“All the players were informed last month of the PCB’s expectations and potential sanctions in the scenario of failures.
“These fitness tests will not be limited to the centrally contracted players but will trickle down to the six Cricket Association teams. Their tests will be conducted by their respective coaches and trainers as per their own schedules and players failing to pass fitness tests will jeopardize their chances of featuring in the Pakistan Cup One-Day Tournament to be held from 25 March to 19 April.”
