Pakistan introduces stringent fitness regime in domestic cricket
Mumbai, July 28
The Pakistan Cricket Board's new sports medicine head has introduced a comprehensive and stringent fitness policy in domestic cricket, hoping it will help players meet the international standards,m a news report has claimed.
The decision comes after several players submitted medical certificates to escape domestic matches and play more and more franchise cricket where they get more money - a trend which needed to be bucked, a report in Telecom Asia Sport said on Tuesday.
"Several players bunk domestic matches by submitting medical certificates so that they can preserve their energies for franchise cricket where they get three times as much money as they get for home matches," sources told Telecomasia.net.
Teams like Pakistan are far behind in meeting international fitness standards and regularly lose players due to fitness issues.
Ever since the new sports medicine director, Dr Javed Mughal, came, he has implemented strict fitness processes.
"Some of the senior players like Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman and Naseem Shah were not spared and were asked to do a complete fitness regime set in place," said sources. "Rizwan was on the verge of being dropped from the tour, and it was only after he completed the rehab that he was selected for the tour of the West Indies."
"A new two-tier plan has been put in place for players of all age-groups and domestic first-class teams. It has been devised in line with the demands of international cricket and kept simple, reliable, robust and repeatable, sources told www.telecomasia.net.
"The tier 1 of testing includes the 20 regional, eight departmental first-class and more than 25 Grade-II departmental teams, while the tier 2 of testing is for senior district, U19 district, U15 and U17 regional teams. Those in tier 1 will appear in 11 different Tests, while the tier 2 players will appear in a total of eight Tests.
"In tier 1, the players will have 17 scoring opportunities across 11 Tests, while in tier 2 the eight tests will provide up to 12 scoring opportunities. Players can score up to 7 red scores and still pass the tier 1 test, while those scoring eight or more will be considered a fail and can take up to one re-test. Tier 2 players with six or more red scores will also fail the test," the report said.
Sources said that in order to keep the strict fitness standards, all the players will have to undergo these tests again after six months. Coaches will conduct the tests under strict monitoring so that they cannot clear their favourite players.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good move by PCB but I think they're being too harsh on senior players like Rizwan. Fitness is important but you can't treat experienced campaigners like rookies. There needs to be some balance - else they might lose their best players to the franchise circuit permanently.
Finally! Pakistan cricket has been living in the 90s when it comes to fitness standards. Look at how Babar Azam has improved his fitness over the years - that's the kind of transformation needed across the board. But forcing Rizwan to prove himself again after he's been their most consistent performer... hmm 🤔
As an Indian fan, I welcome this. Strong Pakistan means better Indo-Pak matches and more competitive cricket globally. But I hope they don't become too rigid - some players have different body types and still perform. The key is finding the right balance between fitness standards and cricketing skills.
Two-tier system actually makes a lot of sense! Forcing seniors and juniors through same tests wouldn't work. But honestly, the real test is whether they implement it consistently or it becomes like our U19 rules - strict on paper but easily bypassed for 'star players'. Dr Javed Mughal seems serious though.
Interesting approach. Australia and England have moved away from such rigid fitness testing - they focus more on sport-specific conditioning. But given Pakistan's historical struggles with player fitness and discipline, maybe this strict approach is what they need right now. Let's see if it produces results in 2-3 years.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.