Prior to issuing central contracts for the upcoming year, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will undertake rigorous fitness tests, which will include current contract players as well as other international and domestic performers.
The White Ball head coach Gary Kirsten, along with the team’s trainer and physiotherapist, will oversee the fitness test, which is scheduled to take place in Lahore on September 6 and 8.
After that, the players will depart for the Champions Cup in Faisalabad.
“The fitness tests will basically decide which players make the contracts this year while performances would also be given priority,” a reliable source in the board said.
“Both the foreign coaches (Kirsten and Jason Gillespie) have made it clear to the selectors and PCB that their first criteria for selecting players will be their fitness status,” he added.
“Gillispie was not happy with the fitness of some players in the recent Test matches against Bangladesh and felt they were not able to sustain their intensity and endurance during all sessions of the Tests,” the source added.
He claimed that during his meeting with the board executives and selectors, Kirsten had also shared similar thoughts regarding the level of fitness of some players.
“Everything to determine a player’s level of fitness will be tested, including gym training, endurance and stamina runs, yo-yo, and other tests,” he continued.
Currently, the PCB has issued central contracts to about 27 players, but given the national team’s results over the past year in all formats, it seems likely that the number will be lowered this time.
After Bangladesh easily defeated Pakistan 2-0 in a recent Test series, players and board members came under heavy fire.
