Pakistan women cricketers to undergo fitness tests via video link

To encourage the elite women cricketers to maintain desired fitness standards, the Pakistan national women’s team management has organised online fitness tests for 38 players.

The video tests will commence on Monday and will run till May 20, in which the players will undergo Prone Hold, Bulgarian Squats, Vertical Jumps and Push Ups along with Body Mass Index calculation. In the backdrop of Ramadan, the tests will be held outside the fasting hours.

The tests will have no financial implications on the centrally contracted cricketers and will be conducted under the supervision of Imran Khalil, who has been assigned the role of interim fitness trainer.

Urooj Mumtaz, chair of the national women's selection committee, said: "The modern day game requires players to maintain optimum fitness levels at all times. Our aim is to develop a fitness driven culture and inculcate this within the system in order to produce elite athlete.

"Considering that these are unprecedented and uncertain times and the players are confined to train in whatever spaces are available to them, the testing battery has been modified to ensure they can be conducted without any equipment while staying indoors.

"At this stage, there will be no financial penalties in case a player fails to meet the desired benchmarks. However being professional cricketers we urge all the players to maintain their fitness levels to make sure that they are ready to go when cricket resumes."

Indo-Asian News Service