Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq is not happy with the fitness level's that the current national team players are exhibiting at the Men's T20 World Cup currently taking place in Australia. Pakistan lost their first warm-up game against England ahead of their first match in the World Cup, which is scheduled to be played against India on October 23. The team faced a big defeat at the hands of Jos Buttler's England, whose batting demolished the Pakistan bowlers in just 14.4 overs.
This forced the former head coach of the team to go on a rant against the team and call out their fitness standards.
“Clear cut, fitness issues are visible, Waqar left four times [as coach], I left once. Players like myself, Shoaib Malik, and Younis Khan were into fitness, and we used to push ourselves. Those who push others out of their limitations are not considered good trainers or good coaches. Their tummies are visible; their lower are heavy and they can’t move. The reason behind this is there has not been a single fitness test, there is no benchmark," Misbah said on a TV show in Pakistan.
The Pakistan players suffered from different fitness issues in the recently concluded Asia Cup, with key players suffering from cramps throughout the tournament while tackling the heat conditions of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The team did well from the bowling side of things, despite the lack of many of their star bowlers.
“Fitness test level during domestic season becomes a joke. We used to have arguments that we used to say that the standard used for the international level must be used for the domestic level as well. The responsible people at the domestic level always opposed us related to fitness," Misbah was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
The Babar Azam-led side have come into the T20 World Cup having lost their seven-match T20I series against England. The side reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in the last edition where they were defeated by eventual champions Australia.
