Former Pakistan cricket director Muhammad Hafeez has claimed that former captain Babar Azam and foreign coaches Mickey Arthur and Grant Bradburn gave the team’s fitness the least priority ahead of the ODI World Cup in India. Pakistan, under the leadership of then captain Babar, failed to make the semi-final knockout round, finishing fifth after losing five out of nine league games. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently did not renew Hafeez’s contract after poor tours of Australia and New Zealand. Hafeez was made the team director at the end of 2023 following Pakistan’s poor performance in the World Cup.

Soon after he took charge, Pakistan were wiped out in the three-Test series, while they lost the five-match T20I series against the Kiwis 4–1.

“When I took over as director (in 2023) and we reached Australia, I asked the team trainer to give me a report on the fitness standards of the players and prepare a new fitness regimen,” Hafeez said.

“He told me that the former captain (Babar) and head coach (Arthur) had told him six months ago that fitness is not a priority at the moment and let the players play as they wish,” Hafeez revealed on ARY Sports channel.

“It was shocking news for me when he (team trainer) told me that he was asked not to check the fitness of the players,” Hafeez said.

Hafeez said that when he checked the players’ body fat percentage and stamina levels, it was much lower than international cricket standards.

“Fitness in modern cricket is a top priority for all teams.” Hafeez alleged that when some players were tested in Australia, they could not even complete a two kilometer race.

“The skin fold (body fat level) of the players was one and a half points more than the normal limit,” he alleged.

Former Test captain, Azhar Ali, who was one of the experts on the TV show, recalled that when Pakistan went to England for the Champions Trophy in 2017, fitness was given top priority, so much so that the coaching staff asked a player (Umar Akmal) came back because he failed the fitness test.

Arthur was the head coach of the team that won the Champions Trophy by defeating India in the final.

Hafeez also said that it took him three months to convince Babar Azam to leave the opening slot and bat at No. 3 in T20 cricket.

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