Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Sultan of Swing Wasim Akram while expressing disappointment on Pakistan team’s loss to Afghanistan said the players’ fitness level was not up to the mark, particularly in relation to their fielding performances.

Afghanistan registered an eight-wicket victory over Pakistan in the ICC World Cup on Monday. While speaking on a show at a local sports channel as quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk, Akram said fitness plays a pivotal role in fielding and pointed out the need for the players to undergo fitness tests regularly, suggesting that some players seemed to be consuming excessive amounts of mutton.

“To reach 280-odd losing just two wickets is pretty big. Wet pitch or no, look at the fielding, the fitness levels. We’ve been screaming for the last three weeks that these players haven’t undergone a fitness test in the last two years. If I start taking individual names, their faces will drop,” he said.

Akram also underlined the importance of having specific criteria for players’ fitness and mentioned that during Misbah-ul-Haq’s coaching tenure, such criteria were enforced, yielding positive results.

“Professionally you guys are getting paid, playing for your country. There has to be a certain criteria. Misbah, when he was coach, had that criteria. Players hated him but it worked. Fielding is all about fitness and that’s where we are lacking. Now we have reached that same position, where we will pray for ifs and buts to happen. Not a single camp has been held there for 8 months. Why do you have to make unnecessary changes? Just leave it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Former Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq also expressed his disappointment with Babar Azam’s captaincy, attributing it to the decline in Haris Rauf’s bowling confidence, particularly during the powerplay.

According to Misbah, Rauf struggles to find his rhythm in the early overs, leaking 18-20 runs and losing confidence.

“We can see that whenever Haris Rauf is given the ball to bowl in the powerplay, he is struggling. He is low in confidence, he is leaking 18-20 runs in his first over. We have spoken after the last match against Australia as well, how New Zealand bring Mitchell Santner in the eighth or the ninth over. It is an attacking option, since it is the last over of the powerplay, batsmen tries to take risk. It is a gamble, you can take wicket as well.

“It would have been good for Haris’s confidence if captain would have given the ball after the powerplay, when there are four fielders in the deep. Then he can bowl his bouncers. If he is bowling short of length outside the off stump, he will have a sweeper cover. Now what’s happening is that he is getting hit four boundaries in the first over and he is done for the whole game.

“We know that Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran play pace bowling well. If we could have bring the spinners early and forced them to attack, they could have got in trouble,” said Misbah.

Former Skipper Shoaib Malik also highlighted the struggles in the spin department and felt there was lack of innovative thinking from the captain.

“Our spin department is also struggling. Our captain doesn’t think out of the box. Saud Shakeel is there, he can bowl you don’t give him the ball,” he said.