Karachi: Former Pakistan Cricket director Muhammad Hafeez has made a shocking revelation that fitness was not on priority of ex-captain Babar Azam and coach Mickey Athur during his stint with the national side.
Hafeez was roped in as team director by the Pakistan cricket team in late 2023 after Pakistan's disastrous campaign in the ODI World Cup. However, Hafeez's appointment didn't change much in terms of results for Pakistan and they were whitewashed in a three-match Test series against Australia. Also, the team lost the five-match T20I series against New Zealand by 4-1.
Reflecting back on his tenure, Hafeez said that he was shocked to know that fitness is not at priority of the then captain and coach Mickey Arthur.
"When I took over as director (in 2023) and we reached Australia, I told the team trainer to give me a report on the players' fitness standards and prepare a new fitness regimen," said Hafeez.
"He (the team trainer) told me that the former captain (Babar Azam) and head coach (Arthur) had told him six months ago that fitness is not the priority at the moment and let the players play as they wanted," Hafeez revealed on the 'ARY sports channel'.
"This was shocking news for me when he (team trainer) told me that he was told to not check the players fitness," added Hafeez. Hafeez further elaborated that the fitness of the Pakistan players was way below par than international standards. He also mentioned that body fat level was more than the normal limit in the players.
"Fitness in modern-day cricket is top priority for all teams.The players' skin fold (body fat level) was one-and-a-half points above the normal limit," he claimed.
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