The PCB – Pakistan Cricket Board has started the fitness testing process of the centrally contracted players with several of them skipping the tests due to a number of reasons.
Only ten cricketers attended the fitness tests on the first day including Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
A number of cricketers missed the mandatory fitness tests citing reasons such as health issues and prior engagements and their tests will be conducted later this month.
Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Rizwan were suffering from a viral infection, Usman Shinwari was still on the bed rest after last month’s typhoid attack whereas Hassan Ali and Fakhar Zaman are still recovering from ribs and back injuries respectively.
Some players including Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Shadab Khan were not available for the fitness tests due to their prior commitments in the BPL- Bangladesh Premier League and their tests will be held later.
Earlier, the PCB had issued a statement saying that undergoing the tests was mandatory for all centrally contracted players and failing them would result in 15 percent deduction in salary and came with risks of demotion or termination of the contract.
The tests will cover five major fitness dimensions including fat analysis, strength, endurance, speed endurance and cross-fit and will be conducted by Yasir Malik, the team’s strength and conditioning coach.
For regular updates keep visiting: Allsportspk
