Pakistan skipper across all three formats of the game Sarfaraz Ahmed has urged his team members to maintain their fitness levels which have been a huge issue for the Asian Giants in an up and down year for Pakistan cricket. Pakistan is currently free from international duties, but most of the players will be seen in action in the National T20 Competition. There have been several fitness issues which haven’t allowed the team to be consistent across all formats of the game.
While they managed to win the Champions Trophy in England in July, they also rose to the No.1 Rankings in T20I’s but was pretty poor in the Tests losing to New Zealand and Australia away from home and performing poorly against Sri Lanka at UAE very recently.
“Me and my team are really happy to become the top-ranked T20I side.
“It is a great achievement, which came after the hard work of a year but we still have to work harder for the next series. We need more practice and need to work on our fitness so we can be at full-strength [against the Kiwis]. We are currently playing the National T20 Cup, which will keep the fitness of the players to a decent level but more needs doing,” Sarfaraz was quoted as saying by Express Tribune.
Pakistan is now gearing up for a return tour to New Zealand for a limited overs series and are upbeat about their chances against the former No.1 team in the shortest format till the last month.
“Except for Test matches, we did really well in the series against Sri Lanka, but as we are going to New Zealand for ODI and T20I series, we are hopeful to perform well.
“I am optimistic that if we play with the right combinations, we will come back home with the victory,” Sarfaraz further added. The skipper stated that the team is improving their fitness levels which would eventually come in handy in the tough away tours.
“When you go to play away from home, the conditions are always difficult and in favour of your opponents. Hence, we are working hard on our fitness,” Sarfaraz concluded.
