"When fitness levels of players were checked....": Mohammed Hafeez slams ex-Director of Cricket, Babar

Islamabad : Former Pakistan all-rounder and Director of Cricket Mohammed Hafeez slammed ex-director of Cricket Mickey Arthur and ex-skipper Babar Azam for not paying attention to the fitness levels of the team.

Recently, Hafeez was removed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) from his position following a clean sweep loss to Australia in a three-Test series Down Under and another loss to New Zealand in the five-match T20I series. He was appointed as the Director of Cricket just after Arthur's tenure ended following a mixed-bag Cricket World Cup campaign in India.

Speaking to ARY Sports Channel, Hafeez said, "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."

"He told me that the former captain (Babar) 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," added the former all-rounder.

Hafeez asserted that fitness is a modern-day priority for all cricket teams. He said that the body fat levels of players were checked and skin folds of players were high, mostly 1.5 times the accepted limit.

"Fitness in modern-day cricket is a top priority for all teams," said Hafeez.

"When the fat levels of the players were checked, the skin fold of all of them was high - for most players it was 1.5 times the limit. They were unfit and some of them couldn't complete a 2 KM trial run. You will suffer defeats if the fitness is like that," he concluded.

Pakistan's next assignment is a tour to England in May this year, during which four T20Is were played.