[VIDEOS/PICTURES] What happened to our fitness culture?

[Suleiman]

Couple of my family members were watching this Pakistani celebrity indoor cricket match on ARY. It’s like a cricket league with a bunch of teams all consisting of well known actors and actresses.

And if you put them alongside our cricketers, esp the ones not in great shape, and asked a non Asian which one of these is a sportsman and which one is an average person, they would pick the actor 10/10 times.

Afridi today still looked match fit and ready to go at 45, same with Younis, Misbah and Moin Khan and Wasim Akram at 50+ (Wasim is almost 60).

Yet Moin’s son is playing in such a sorry state? And people want him to be selected?

I understand from 60s-90s, cricket had prestige in Pakistan and attracted people who cared about reputation. Now we see a bunch of paindus, smoking, eating halwa puri and tikka and kebab while Kohli across the border hasn’t seen a ball of gulab jamun since age 18 (actually I think he said he quit rice altogether).

It’s “small” things like these that get under my skin and make me realize that I don’t think we’ll be a top 3 team for a prolonged period ever again. Not fitness by itself, but the lack of professionalism in things like fitness, attitude, willingness to improve, it’s a sad state of affairs.

What are the MBAs we’ve hired from UK doing in PCB? What’s Imran khan doing since he said we’ll shoot to the top again once he became PM? I know these things take time, but what’s being done?

 

[Tubs]

Yes, it is quite worrying, especially since India (obviously a similar culture) are doing much better when it comes to fitness. It is down to the cricket culture in Pakistan, and the infrastructure, I'd imagine. When Yasir Shah mentioned Younis Khan being his motivation for losing weight, it raised a few eyebrows. Don't the PCB have dieticians and sports scientists? We have all seen the pictures of the Pakistani team indulging in cake over trivial matters far too often.

The case with Azam Khan is baffling. The son of a cricketer, who likely had an upper-middle class upbringing with aspirations to be a cricketer. His family would have had the means to access many avenues of health and fitness related tools, and he has been playing in the PSL for at least a couple of years now. He claims that he will leave no stone unturned in his quest to being selected for Pakistan, but it seems laying off the biryani is out of the question? I don't mean to be rude, but much more is expected of a professional athlete. He also seems to be rather athletic for his size, so imagine how he'd be if he shed 15kg?

 

[Snowflake]

What fitness culture? There was none to begin with.

Mickey Arthur tried his level best to make it a priority but we all saw the kind of push back he got. Laziness and lack of discipline and drive is in our DNA.

 

[Suleiman]

Yes, it is quite worrying, especially since India (obviously a similar culture) are doing much better when it comes to fitness. It is down to the cricket culture in Pakistan, and the infrastructure, I'd imagine. When Yasir Shah mentioned Younis Khan being his motivation for losing weight, it raised a few eyebrows. Don't the PCB have dieticians and sports scientists? We have all seen the pictures of the Pakistani team indulging in cake over trivial matters far too often.

The case with Azam Khan is baffling. The son of a cricketer, who likely had an upper-middle class upbringing with aspirations to be a cricketer. His family would have had the means to access many avenues of health and fitness related tools, and he has been playing in the PSL for at least a couple of years now. He claims that he will leave no stone unturned in his quest to being selected for Pakistan, but it seems laying off the biryani is out of the question? I don't mean to be rude, but much more is expected of a professional athlete. He also seems to be rather athletic for his size, so imagine how he'd be if he shed 15kg?

Agreed. It is frustrating. I recall when Nasir Jamshed had become overweight and after losing weight him and some cricket experts, on here and on TV, were saying he lost a lot of power in his shots and losing weight caused him to lose form ) (loss of power I can understand btw- but if done right you shouldn’t go from pro batsman to amateur simply by losing the blubber)

But yeah seeing those ARY actors playing cricket in kits and whatnot, they looked like pro cricketers, physique wise at least.

 

[Suleiman]

What fitness culture? There was none to begin with.

Mickey Arthur tried his level best to make it a priority but we all saw the kind of push back he got. Laziness and lack of discipline and drive is in our DNA.

Ofc there was. Go ahead look at our teams from the 60s up till the 90s. Everybody was fit. Inzimam was an anomaly, everybody else took care of themselves.

Fitness is one of the reasons why we had genuine fast bowlers capable of bowling 140+ kph. Fitness isn’t the only reason for that, but I’m sure it’s one of them. Proper diet plans with plenty of protein, exercise regimes focused on strength and conditioning. India has emphasized fitness and its been a contributing factor to them producing genuine fast bowlers compared to 15-20 years back.

Ofc in addition to that you need proper technique such as in bowling action aided by bio mechanics and an ounce of natural talent, but fitness is important too.

 

[Savak]

I proposed that the domestic teams should be the ones refusing to select Sharjeel and Azam Khan telling them to get fit or stay home. A poster told me to get over it and that Pakistan cannot afford to do this because our talent stocks are at an all time low. Because exceptions are made, the players and individuals know they can get away with it. Azam Khan might not have been picked for Pakistan but he has been picked for the domestic T-20 side, the domestic odi side, the Sri Lankan T-20 league, the UAE T-10 tournament and has probably made good money already which has perhaps diminished his desire to represent Pakistan to an extent.

Unfortunately our players need a head masters approach. Kohli is very ruthless on Fitness and refusing to select players in the team who don't meet his standards.

 

[Giannis]

Well the guys do workout, what more do you want.

 

[Savak]

I know full well that Azam Khan goes to a truly elite gym in Karachi which has a very well renowned celebrity personal trainer. I am pretty sure the trainer is not at fault, Azam compromises on his diet and eating habits.

 

[Stewie]

I know full well that Azam Khan goes to a truly elite gym in Karachi which has a very well renowned celebrity personal trainer. I am pretty sure the trainer is not at fault, Azam compromises on his diet and eating habits.

It could be genetics too. Sometimes genetics win no matter how hard you try. Maybe it’s a combination of not so great habits + bad genes.

Jessie Ryder, cornwall, etc are some of the cricketers who can make a mark despite being overweight but I know bad fitness and over weight issues should not afflict a vast majority of your players.

 

[Slog]

I know full well that Azam Khan goes to a truly elite gym in Karachi which has a very well renowned celebrity personal trainer. I am pretty sure the trainer is not at fault, Azam compromises on his diet and eating habits.

He goes to train and then thinks because he trained he has earned the right to gorge on paaye and nehari. I’ve literally seen our cricketers say this. They think as long as you train well, you are deserving of eating whatever junk you want to

 

[Slog]

It could be genetics too. Sometimes genetics win no matter how hard you try. Maybe it’s a combination of not so great habits + bad genes.

Jessie Ryder, cornwall, etc are some of the cricketers who can make a mark despite being overweight but I know bad fitness and over weight issues should not afflict a vast majority of your players.

I don’t get why do we always act surprised.

Haven’t we seen our cricketers gorge on biryani and Pepsis during the 2015 WC. Haven’t we seen our crickets have KFC and McDonalds during ICC tournaments. Weren’t our cricketers seen having pizza and sheesha on the eve of the 2019 WC match against India?

I’ve seen numerous cricketers say our food is very tasty but oily so as a result we train very hard. And I wanna say ‘you numpties- the training hard part should be a given and the unhealthy food is what should be cut out’

The point is I am shocked that our fans always get surprised

 

[observer1]

The team seems pretty fine to me. Azam Khan is nowhere near the International team, so I'm not seeing the relevance.

Not sure why people are mentioning Jamsed or Sharjeel too. It's been years since they were selected.

Apart from Yasir Shah, the current squad seem tip top.

 

[moghul]

Couple of my family members were watching this Pakistani celebrity indoor cricket match on ARY. It’s like a cricket league with a bunch of teams all consisting of well known actors and actresses.

And if you put them alongside our cricketers, esp the ones not in great shape, and asked a non Asian which one of these is a sportsman and which one is an average person, they would pick the actor 10/10 times.

Afridi today still looked match fit and ready to go at 45, same with Younis, Misbah and Moin Khan and Wasim Akram at 50+ (Wasim is almost 60).

Yet Moin’s son is playing in such a sorry state? And people want him to be selected?

I understand from 60s-90s, cricket had prestige in Pakistan and attracted people who cared about reputation. Now we see a bunch of paindus, smoking, eating halwa puri and tikka and kebab while Kohli across the border hasn’t seen a ball of gulab jamun since age 18 (actually I think he said he quit rice altogether).

It’s “small” things like these that get under my skin and make me realize that I don’t think we’ll be a top 3 team for a prolonged period ever again. Not fitness by itself, but the lack of professionalism in things like fitness, attitude, willingness to improve, it’s a sad state of affairs.

What are the MBAs we’ve hired from UK doing in PCB? What’s Imran khan doing since he said we’ll shoot to the top again once he became PM? I know these things take time, but what’s being done?

I know, I'm also very unhappy about lack of fitness awareness in our cricketers, administrators and society as a whole. Even the cricket followers are the same. Just imagine how many PPErs think extremely unfit players like Azam Khan's fitness level is acceptable, which is a depressing attitude. I am surprised no one ever grinded Moeen Khan and his wife in a TV interview how the ----ll, they let their son become so obese. No cricketer like him and Sharjeel should be picked up even in Fc team unless they improve their fitness.

 

[moghul]

I know full well that Azam Khan goes to a truly elite gym in Karachi which has a very well renowned celebrity personal trainer. I am pretty sure the trainer is not at fault, Azam compromises on his diet and eating habits.

Going to elite gym and having services of personal trainer does not make you fit, unless you're motivated to get fit . We have not seen any change in Azam Khan's weight since he is in limelight , for couple of years at least. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

 

[observer1]

Going to elite gym and having services of personal trainer does not make you fit, unless you're motivated to get fit . We have not seen any change in Azam Khan's weight since he is in limelight , for couple of years at least. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Did you actually read what Savak said mate?

 

[observer1]

I know, I'm also very unhappy about lack of fitness awareness in our cricketers, administrators and society as a whole. Even the cricket followers are the same. Just imagine how many PPErs think extremely unfit players like Azam Khan's fitness level is acceptable, which is a depressing attitude. I am surprised no one ever grinded Moeen Khan and his wife in a TV interview how the ----ll, they let their son become so obese. No cricketer like him and Sharjeel should be picked up even in Fc team unless they improve their fitness.

Pretty much everyone here unanimously agrees Azam needs improve himself. What has some obscure T20 player got to do with the Cricketers, Administration and Society ?

 

[Snowflake]

Ofc there was. Go ahead look at our teams from the 60s up till the 90s. Everybody was fit. Inzimam was an anomaly, everybody else took care of themselves.

Fitness is one of the reasons why we had genuine fast bowlers capable of bowling 140+ kph. Fitness isn’t the only reason for that, but I’m sure it’s one of them. Proper diet plans with plenty of protein, exercise regimes focused on strength and conditioning. India has emphasized fitness and its been a contributing factor to them producing genuine fast bowlers compared to 15-20 years back.

Ofc in addition to that you need proper technique such as in bowling action aided by bio mechanics and an ounce of natural talent, but fitness is important too.

You think our cricketers prior to 2000s were fit? They were as unfit as they come, bro! What are you talking about?

The two reason why they weren't exposed were 1) They were way more talented than the current crop which means they were able to put in match winning performances DESPITE poor fitness 2) Fitness standards around the globe weren't as high as they are today, which means that our players didn't stand out because of poor fitness.

One of the main reasons why our fielding has been shambolic is because of consistently poor fitness standards.

 

[moghul]

Pretty much everyone here unanimously agrees Azam needs improve himself. What has some obscure T20 player got to do with the Cricketers, Administration and Society ?

Health and fitness awareness has improved in all countries the world over, except the poorest and countries with very low literacy rate. Today's sportsmen are much fitter than one from previous generation and that applies to Indian cricketers too, no wonder they are doing better. Not in Pakistan, where fitness standard among the cricketers is the poorest in the world, thanks to lack of awareness at all level, players, PCB and cricket followers.

 

[observer1]

Health and fitness awareness has improved in all countries the world over, except the poorest and countries with very low literacy rate. Today's sportsmen are much fitter than one from previous generation and that applies to Indian cricketers too, no wonder they are doing better. Not in Pakistan, where fitness standard among the cricketers is the poorest in the world, thanks to lack of awareness at all level, players, PCB and cricket followers.

I mean, you've said the same thing three times now but provided zero evidence or data to the discussion. Your only point of comparison is a bit part T20 player

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but fitness came a long way when Misbah became captain and PCB introduced military style training for the players.

Shadab, Hasan Ali, Faheem, Shaheen Shah, Naseem Shah, Fawad Alam, Rizwan, Shan Masood, Babar Azam all come across as very slim and energetic players in the first team.

Aside from Yasir Shah, i can't think of anyone who struggles with fitness ??????

 

[moghul]

I mean, you've said the same thing three times now but provided zero evidence or data to the discussion. Your only point of comparison is a bit part T20 player

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but fitness came a long way when Misbah became captain and PCB introduced military style training for the players.

Shadab, Hasan Ali, Faheem, Shaheen Shah, Naseem Shah, Fawad Alam, Rizwan, Shan Masood, Babar Azam all come across as very slim and energetic players in the first team.

Aside from Yasir Shah, i can't think of anyone who struggles with fitness ??????

Don't want to drag on this topic but the fitness for a profession athlete is more than just not having a fat belly. If a fast bowler loses his pace by 10 Kph at age 27 and drops a catch which a granny would snatch it, that's lack of fitness.

Wahab Riaz works hard on his fitness and he has not lost much pace at 35, you can;t say the same for Faheem, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali , Abbas and even for "17 year" old Naseem Shah. Less we talk about players like Yasir Shah, Harris Sohail and Sarfraz is better.

 

[Stewie]

Yasir Shah may have a belly but I think he is fairly fit, is t he? Bowls crap load of overs in test matches. You. An only so that if you are fit.

 

[Savak]

Yasir Shah may have a belly but I think he is fairly fit, is t he? Bowls crap load of overs in test matches. You. An only so that if you are fit.

Yasir Shah was a big turner of the ball from 2014 to 2016, however since then his action has suffered and he has lost spin, revolutions on the ball. It has to do with his belly.

 

[Stewie]

Possible but his belly was always there. Has he put on more weight? I may not have noticed

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Meanwhile..

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hustle continues &#55356;&#56814;&#55356;&#56819; <a href="https://t.co/vGHkRavdYE">pic.twitter.com/vGHkRavdYE</a></p>— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) <a href="https://twitter.com/hardikpandya7/status/1363480647776542723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Stewie]

There are always a few players with bellies in teams but overall I think Pakistan team players are fit. Yes they could be fitter but I wouldn’t say they are in dire need of help. Hasan Ali, afridi, Rizwan, Shadab, Fawad, etc are pretty fit. You could say azhar, yasser have extra fat. Who else? You are not going to have a full squad of 14-15 guys at the domestic level super fit. That’s the nature of the beast.

 

[Bigboii]

Meanwhile..

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hustle continues ���� <a href="https://t.co/vGHkRavdYE">pic.twitter.com/vGHkRavdYE</a></p>— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) <a href="https://twitter.com/hardikpandya7/status/1363480647776542723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

There are a bunch of Pak players who are proper athletes with pro level fitness

But they don't go around posting half naked pics on twitter like a bunch of 20 y/o f*** bois so we "perceive" that they're not proper athletes even though they're probably as fit or probably more than tham

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

There are a bunch of Pak players who are proper athletes with pro level fitness

But they don't go around posting half naked pics on twitter like a bunch of 20 y/o f*** bois so we "perceive" that they're not proper athletes even though they're probably as fit or probably more than tham

Come on. Half the Pakistani team is unfit hence not able to last full grind of a test match day.
Also have you seen the drameybazi of few of your Pakistani players. They post like 16 year old teenage girls.
Don’t derail the thread Pakistan players definitely need to work on their fitness Indian boys are definitely more fitter.
Except Rohit Sharma he is our version of Inzi needs weight to hit those monster sixes.

 

[saeed5646]

There are a bunch of Pak players who are proper athletes with pro level fitness

But they don't go around posting half naked pics on twitter like a bunch of 20 y/o f*** bois so we "perceive" that they're not proper athletes even though they're probably as fit or probably more than tham

Shan masood, rizwan ,shadab ,kamran ghulam.shaheen shah, hasan ali ,ammad butt are fitness freak and on par with kohli and other top Indian athlete

 

[saeed5646]

Meanwhile..

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hustle continues ���� <a href="https://t.co/vGHkRavdYE">pic.twitter.com/vGHkRavdYE</a></p>— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) <a href="https://twitter.com/hardikpandya7/status/1363480647776542723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Bigboii]

Hasan ali is crazy fit

all of em are built like tanks

Again you don't have to have posting history like an instagram thoughts for us to know that you're.fit or not

Like seriously!

 

[Bigboii]

Come on. Half the Pakistani team is unfit hence not able to last full grind of a test match day.
Also have you seen the drameybazi of few of your Pakistani players. They post like 16 year old teenage girls.
Don’t derail the thread Pakistan players definitely need to work on their fitness Indian boys are definitely more fitter.
Except Rohit Sharma he is our version of Inzi needs weight to hit those monster sixes.

Also I don't get this mentality that anything related to ICT is above criticism like they have reached god like status

I call b* and if people look around in TP section I am far from an india phone (many indian members would attest to that I am sure)
But I have the right to criticize just like everyone else
What's with all the "hurt" reaction when anything criticizing ICT is posted on this forum

 

[King_Kohli]

Meanwhile..

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hustle continues ���� <a href="https://t.co/vGHkRavdYE">pic.twitter.com/vGHkRavdYE</a></p>— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) <a href="https://twitter.com/hardikpandya7/status/1363480647776542723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yo-Yo Fitness Test <a href="https://t.co/2it2nsYScH">pic.twitter.com/2it2nsYScH</a></p>— Navdeep Saini (@navdeepsaini96) <a href="https://twitter.com/navdeepsaini96/status/1362993572161593345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Also I don't get this mentality that anything related to ICT is above criticism like they have reached god like status

I call b* and if people look around in TP section I am far from an india phone (many indian members would attest to that I am sure)
But I have the right to criticize just like everyone else
What's with all the "hurt" reaction when anything criticizing ICT is posted on this forum

All i did was comparison between fitness. You seem to be hurt with that comparison.
You can always criticize.. but to call them male prostitutes for posting some photos is a bit of a strech.
I will call you out on that claim. Same as you can call me out on my fitness claims and say that players work hard etc.
No one is hurt it is a forum to express views.

 

[King_Kohli]

Hasan ali is crazy fit

He looks superb.

 

[King_Kohli]

Having belly doesn't mean they are unfit.

 

[Shazzam]

Its not about the looks its about the ability. As long as Azam Khan can score runs at quicker pace we should get him on our team. Wasting the boy in domestic is doing injustice to Pakistan cricket.

 

[Markhor]

I mean, you've said the same thing three times now but provided zero evidence or data to the discussion. Your only point of comparison is a bit part T20 player

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but fitness came a long way when Misbah became captain and PCB introduced military style training for the players.

Shadab, Hasan Ali, Faheem, Shaheen Shah, Naseem Shah, Fawad Alam, Rizwan, Shan Masood, Babar Azam all come across as very slim and energetic players in the first team.

Aside from Yasir Shah, i can't think of anyone who struggles with fitness ??????

Even players like Shaheen have poor attitudes when it comes to diet.

I remember poster [MENTION=758]Usman[/MENTION] saying he approached him about it during the 2019 World Cup, when he and a few others were ordering a takeaway, and Shaheen basically laughed it off saying after training all day they were starving.

I hope his mindset has changed since then.

 

[Suleiman]

Its not about the looks its about the ability. As long as Azam Khan can score runs at quicker pace we should get him on our team. Wasting the boy in domestic is doing injustice to Pakistan cricket.

Having belly doesn't mean they are unfit.

What kind of idea is this? Yes, I don’t mean looks as if they are going for GQ photo shoot, but if you are unfit it’s going to show in your aesthetics. Never did I say they need to look like body builders or Olympian gymnasts, but having a belly is NOT fit. How is this even a question? And he has more than just a belly.

I don’t mean to mock him or insult him, but I’m saying all this as a true fan and well wisher of Pak cricket. He is far more overweight than Inzi was to the point his weight is going to hold him back as a player, if you can’t see that, then feel free to do blood tests on him or put him through a yo yo test

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

In Pakistan being normal athletic is seen as an achievement

Biryani all year round then PSL

 

[Suleiman]

I see the problem now. It’s not just players, but also fans, and by extension PCB admins who allow this kind of behavior to go on.

Plenty of uncles / boomers from South Asia who conform to this type of mentality as well. Did some 30 mins of walk with friends, so now I can go ham on the honey, chocolate syrup, and halwa. It’s ok because I burned calories in the walk we all know someone like this, and he is desi.

People call someone overweight sayhatmand, instead of intervening. So these kind of thoughts leak over to sports as well, sadly.

And for the record, yes there are some fit players in the team, like Hasan Ali. But for every fit person there’s 1-2 other unfit guys. You raise Hasan Ali, I raise you Sohail Khan. (He’s a case of having looks but still having fitness issues, same with Amir, but that doesn’t mean you can be “fit” with 30%+ body fat percentage)

Yes there is Rohit Sharma, Darren Lehman, and Shane Warne type players in terms of fitness- but they are few and far between. For one rohit sharma there’s 10 fit Indian players, same with Australia.

 

[AMSS]

Please, no need to fat shame the hitman. He's the ur-cricketer. Possessing fitness tailored made for cricket and cricket alone.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

I see the problem now. It’s not just players, but also fans, and by extension PCB admins who allow this kind of behavior to go on.

Plenty of uncles / boomers from South Asia who conform to this type of mentality as well. Did some 30 mins of walk with friends, so now I can go ham on the honey, chocolate syrup, and halwa. It’s ok because I burned calories in the walk we all know someone like this, and he is desi.

People call someone overweight sayhatmand, instead of intervening. So these kind of thoughts leak over to sports as well, sadly.

And for the record, yes there are some fit players in the team, like Hasan Ali. But for every fit person there’s 1-2 other unfit guys. You raise Hasan Ali, I raise you Sohail Khan. (He’s a case of having looks but still having fitness issues, same with Amir, but that doesn’t mean you can be “fit” with 30%+ body fat percentage)

Yes there is Rohit Sharma, Darren Lehman, and Shane Warne type players in terms of fitness- but they are few and far between. For one rohit sharma there’s 10 fit Indian players, same with Australia.

Problem is I don't think they understand visceral fat which accumulates with desi food. They think they can eat less of it and they will be okay. NO desi food and fitness do not mix. Choose one or the other. If I was a international cricketer with ambition I know which one I would choose.

 

[Titan24]

Meanwhile..

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hustle continues ���� <a href="https://t.co/vGHkRavdYE">pic.twitter.com/vGHkRavdYE</a></p>— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) <a href="https://twitter.com/hardikpandya7/status/1363480647776542723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Meanwhile

Amad Butt



And

 

[Titan24]

If we are talking about game fitness than I completely agree, current lot is nowhere close to the level of Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib etc or even in terms of batting fitness Yousuf, Younis and co. However when it comes to just the physique side of the things I think the culture and overall exposure has improved but their application from just the aesthetics and visible side to match fitness has been poor.

We see reasonably skillful players like Junaid Khan, Umer Gul, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Amir etc struggling big time with match fitness in their careers due to one reason or another. However, physically they looked fine to the naked eye but their match fitness was nowhere to the level of the last gen of our pacers and thats probably the reason some of their body parts which were not trained for such kind of workload collapsed with different intensity and at different point of times.

I think its high time to start focusing on the match fitness again and add those diet plans and exercises which can actually help the players on the field in their game. Its not enough to just look physically fit and practically enough to pass yo yo tests as fitness should be improvised in a progressive manner based upon the requirements of the job different body parts are supposed to do on the field.

 

[Titan24]

Meanwhile

Amad Butt

View attachment 107373

And

View attachment 107374

[MENTION=152959]hoshiarpurexpress[/MENTION] Point is that extremes are on both sides.

However, yes game fitness of Indian players have been much better over the last quite a few years.

 

[Suleiman]

If we are talking about game fitness than I completely agree, current lot is nowhere close to the level of Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib etc or even in terms of batting fitness Yousuf, Younis and co. However when it comes to just the physique side of the things I think the culture and overall exposure has improved but their application from just the aesthetics and visible side to match fitness has been poor.

We see reasonably skillful players like Junaid Khan, Umer Gul, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Amir etc struggling big time with match fitness in their careers due to one reason or another. However, physically they looked fine to the naked eye but their match fitness was nowhere to the level of the last gen of our pacers and thats probably the reason some of their body parts which were not trained for such kind of workload collapsed with different intensity and at different point of times.

I think its high time to start focusing on the match fitness again and add those diet plans and exercises which can actually help the players on the field in their game. Its not enough to just look physically fit and practically enough to pass yo yo tests as fitness should be improvised in a progressive manner based upon the requirements of the job different body parts are supposed to do on the field.

I think it’s both, but yes, more important than aesthetics it’s the ability to transfer that fitness into ACTUAL PERFORMANCE. Which we are definitely lacking in. Aesthetics are just a basic metric for the armchair critic. You can be a jacked person but have terrible conditioning, inhibiting your stamina in a 5 day test match.

 

[Stewie]

All i did was comparison between fitness. You seem to be hurt with that comparison.
You can always criticize.. but to call them male prostitutes for posting some photos is a bit of a strech.
I will call you out on that claim. Same as you can call me out on my fitness claims and say that players work hard etc.
No one is hurt it is a forum to express views.

No you didn’t express views, you are claiming something to be a fact and it’s not true. You claimed Pakistanis can’t last the grind of 5 day test cricket because of poor fitness and there is no evidence to suggest thats true. Even the supposedly unfittest of our test player,Yasir Shah bowled marathon spells in the 2-0 win against South Africa. We lost in NZ to a superior team and that happens when the other team plays well, but not related to fitness.

If one is to follow your logic, The Indian team got bowled out for what was the record low score again? I don’t remember but it surely means they are the unfittest of the lot based on that total and your logic, aren’t they?

Yes Pakistan needs to work on overall fitness a bit more but let’s not start making ridiculous claims like yours.

 

[Hasan123]

There is no culture towards fitness. Look at teams like Australia and England, they don't even need to talk about players being fit and in shape as it's a given. Our players seem to not like talking about it if they are not in shape or fit enough. I also don't think there is an understanding of it. Some players think getting a good yoyo score means you are fit.

 

[LeedsGreen]

What are the MBAs we’ve hired from UK doing in PCB? [/B]What’s Imran khan doing since he said we’ll shoot to the top again once he became PM? I know these things take time, but what’s being done?

this is a really pathetic cheap dig commonly seen on this forum.
ironically you are part of the same mentality and mindset that you complain about... fitness is the responsibility of the individual players... no one spies on kohli daily and slaps gulb jamun out off his hands when hes trying to snack.. kohli himself has the mindset of wanting to be the best and therefore makes the sacrifices needed to be in top shape. no reason our players cant take charge of their own fitness and it is not the responsibility of said 'MBAs from th uk' that takes criticism for simply breathing at times.

 

[Suleiman]

this is a really pathetic cheap dig commonly seen on this forum.
ironically you are part of the same mentality and mindset that you complain about... fitness is the responsibility of the individual players... no one spies on kohli daily and slaps gulb jamun out off his hands when hes trying to snack.. kohli himself has the mindset of wanting to be the best and therefore makes the sacrifices needed to be in top shape. no reason our players cant take charge of their own fitness and it is not the responsibility of said 'MBAs from th uk' that takes criticism for simply breathing at times.

I’m sorry if I offended you with the UK MBA part, but part of the responsibility does lie with the board. Selection of someone like Azam is done despite him being unfit. If they didn’t select him citing his fitness, he would have further drive to lose weight. The company you work for has to hold you accountable with regards to your profession.

 

[Usman]

Even players like Shaheen have poor attitudes when it comes to diet.

I remember poster [MENTION=758]Usman[/MENTION] saying he approached him about it during the 2019 World Cup, when he and a few others were ordering a takeaway, and Shaheen basically laughed it off saying after training all day they were starving.

I hope his mindset has changed since then.

Your recollection is right bro. I'm sitting next to Shaheen in this pic and we were having a conversation about the in-swinger . I've cropped myself out to maintain at least a degree of anonymity!

As you can see, this is not the sort of establishment where athletes should be eating. I think this pic was actually taken by Fakhar Zaman.

 

[Savak]

Your recollection is right bro. I'm sitting next to Shaheen in this pic and we were having a conversation about the in-swinger . I've cropped myself out to maintain at least a degree of anonymity!

As you can see, this is not the sort of establishment where athletes should be eating. I think this pic was actually taken by Fakhar Zaman.

At the age of 19-20, he can get away with eating junk. He will learn the hard way when he gets to 26-27 and his metabolism slows down by 10% every year

 

[Usman]

At the age of 19-20, he can get away with eating junk. He will learn the hard way when he gets to 26-27 and his metabolism slows down by 10% every year

It wasn't Shaheen alone. Several of the boys were eating this and it was something they appeared to be doing daily whilst they stayed at that hotel.

Shaheen is honestly such a decent lad. Throughout the time I spent with him, he was so gracious and was really good fun. He was happily inviting me to all sorts of stuff and he had not an ounce of self-importance about him. Compare this to Wahab who was largely blanking me and had a face like thunder. My point is that Shaheen is not someone who thinks he's too important to stick to the rules and eat healthily etc. He just honestly thinks eating like this is ok.

Who knows, this was now a year and half ago and maybe things have changed.

 

[Suleiman]

It wasn't Shaheen alone. Several of the boys were eating this and it was something they appeared to be doing daily whilst they stayed at that hotel.

Shaheen is honestly such a decent lad. Throughout the time I spent with him, he was so gracious and was really good fun. He was happily inviting me to all sorts of stuff and he had not an ounce of self-importance about him. Compare this to Wahab who was largely blanking me and had a face like thunder. My point is that Shaheen is not someone who thinks he's too important to stick to the rules and eat healthily etc. He just honestly thinks eating like this is ok.

Who knows, this was now a year and half ago and maybe things have changed.

Thanks for sharing man, always cool to see our heroes up and close in real life and hear about what they’re like.

That’s cool to hear, and again since this is just one instance I’ll still give him benefit of the doubt. But if this is standard procedure, then that is wrong (again, I can’t judge anyone based off this one incident, esp if he got the “healthy grilled chicken” option

 

[marlonbrowndo]

Fitness culture isn’t a thing in Pakistan. Even those who are trying to be fit are faced with a ton of misinformation

 

[HappyWarsFan]

It wasn't Shaheen alone. Several of the boys were eating this and it was something they appeared to be doing daily whilst they stayed at that hotel.

Shaheen is honestly such a decent lad. Throughout the time I spent with him, he was so gracious and was really good fun. He was happily inviting me to all sorts of stuff and he had not an ounce of self-importance about him. Compare this to Wahab who was largely blanking me and had a face like thunder. My point is that Shaheen is not someone who thinks he's too important to stick to the rules and eat healthily etc. He just honestly thinks eating like this is ok.

Who knows, this was now a year and half ago and maybe things have changed.

I agree on Wahab. He was in Canada in 2019 for gt20 league. I was in the crowd. We cheered him on when he was fielding right by us and he just gave us an annoyed look.

Hafeez was there too and he smiled and waved back at us.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

[MENTION=152959]hoshiarpurexpress[/MENTION] Point is that extremes are on both sides.

However, yes game fitness of Indian players have been much better over the last quite a few years.

That is why i mentioned Rohit Sharma as well. I am not claiming some superiority. All I said was the Indian pacers are more game fit, especially for Test Matches.
People got triggered, ke bhai Indian players ke saath kaise compare kar dia and started calling them wannabes and male prostitutes and what not.
I still stand by statement, most of the Indian players are more game fit to last the grind of 5 day test matches. It is pretty evident that most of the Pak players are not.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

No you didn’t express views, you are claiming something to be a fact and it’s not true. You claimed Pakistanis can’t last the grind of 5 day test cricket because of poor fitness and there is no evidence to suggest thats true. Even the supposedly unfittest of our test player,Yasir Shah bowled marathon spells in the 2-0 win against South Africa. We lost in NZ to a superior team and that happens when the other team plays well, but not related to fitness.

If one is to follow your logic, The Indian team got bowled out for what was the record low score again? I don’t remember but it surely means they are the unfittest of the lot based on that total and your logic, aren’t they?

Yes Pakistan needs to work on overall fitness a bit more but let’s not start making ridiculous claims like yours.

It still stand by by statement.
lol at comparison with Yasir Shah.. Bowling Marathon spells and giving away 200 runs in the process, bowling a half tracker every over and no consistency. This is the prime example of fitness. If you are not fit, after 30 overs you will be tired. You seem to believe in the 90s theory of Waqar, kee jitni bowling karo utni fitness increase hoti hai.
Times have changed, fitness regimen and science of sports has completely changed.
Yasirs bowling 50 overs is useless if he is giving away 200 runs at almost at 4 RPO. He is not fit then and loses focus after that much workload.
Bringing the bowl out of Indian team shows your cricketing acumen. Australia was bowled out for 47, England for 67, Pakistan of 45 against SA, 53 and 59 in Test match against Australia. Plenty of such examples.
Did you bothered to see how Top teams like England, Australia and India came back after that.
England won the next test match and so did India and Australia. Pakistan lost the next test match against SA.
So, Not only players are unfit, they are not strong mentally as well. Fitness brings strong mentality as well.
Current Pakistan Test Team is still not game fit, and I stand by that statement.
I respect your views, but Disagree with what you said.

 

[Savak]

In the IPL being fit and unfit is the difference between making $1-2 million in a year. For that amount of money, the players are forced to get themselves fit or they will not be selected.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

this is a really pathetic cheap dig commonly seen on this forum.
ironically you are part of the same mentality and mindset that you complain about... fitness is the responsibility of the individual players... no one spies on kohli daily and slaps gulb jamun out off his hands when hes trying to snack.. kohli himself has the mindset of wanting to be the best and therefore makes the sacrifices needed to be in top shape. no reason our players cant take charge of their own fitness and it is not the responsibility of said 'MBAs from th uk' that takes criticism for simply breathing at times.

I agree its players responsibility to be fit, however its the responsibility of the board to drop players who are not fit. People like Sharjeel should not be playing even in domestics.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

I see the problem now. It’s not just players, but also fans, and by extension PCB admins who allow this kind of behavior to go on.

Yes, this is a problem. They will make excuse after excuse for unfit players if they happen to like them. You can throw in media too.

The only zaban these players will understand is if they are dropped, or if we dock their pay (like pay them minimum wage) if we are desperate and need them.

Plenty of uncles / boomers from South Asia who conform to this type of mentality as well. Did some 30 mins of walk with friends, so now I can go ham on the honey, chocolate syrup, and halwa. It’s ok because I burned calories in the walk we all know someone like this, and he is desi.

Thats ok, as they are not professional athletes.

 

[SamNJ]

Part of blame goes to food too. Pakistani food is just so tasty and irresistible.

 

[Stewie]

It still stand by by statement.
lol at comparison with Yasir Shah.. Bowling Marathon spells and giving away 200 runs in the process, bowling a half tracker every over and no consistency. This is the prime example of fitness. If you are not fit, after 30 overs you will be tired. You seem to believe in the 90s theory of Waqar, kee jitni bowling karo utni fitness increase hoti hai.
Times have changed, fitness regimen and science of sports has completely changed.
Yasirs bowling 50 overs is useless if he is giving away 200 runs at almost at 4 RPO. He is not fit then and loses focus after that much workload.
Bringing the bowl out of Indian team shows your cricketing acumen. Australia was bowled out for 47, England for 67, Pakistan of 45 against SA, 53 and 59 in Test match against Australia. Plenty of such examples.
Did you bothered to see how Top teams like England, Australia and India came back after that.
England won the next test match and so did India and Australia. Pakistan lost the next test match against SA.
So, Not only players are unfit, they are not strong mentally as well. Fitness brings strong mentality as well.
Current Pakistan Test Team is still not game fit, and I stand by that statement.
I respect your views, but Disagree with what you said.

But your whole argument is based on the premise of just one player and the fact he has a gut. Cricket fitness is not about exceptional core strength, it’s about skill as well. If that was not the case Boon, Warne, Cornwall, tendulkar, Sehwag, sharma, Gooch would not be exceptional test cricketers. Mercy Hughes is another one. Waqar is absolutely correct: you can spend hours toning your abs and working on core strength but if you don’t bowl bowl and bowl your bowling muscles that matter a lot won’t go anywhere.

I think your whole logic is flawed considering except Yasir the rest of the bowling unit is in top top shape. They also undergo the same yo-yo test that is used in international cricket. Yes, the pass grade might be different from other teams but they are by no means match unfit players. I think you are confusing lack of application or skill with match fitness. If you were talking about later years of ranatunga, I would agree with you on this but I don’t agree with painting the entire Pakistan team with this wide brush.

With all that said, I never said all of them are fit enough, especially those in domestic cricket. There is always room for improvement, some more than others.

 

[someone21]

People are bit too much for ripped body, its not necessarily nor fundamental. A bit like you can still be an actor without 6 abs. Cricket is not a running sport, and the timing, and technical skills matter much more.

 

[Usman]

Thanks for sharing man, always cool to see our heroes up and close in real life and hear about what they’re like.

That’s cool to hear, and again since this is just one instance I’ll still give him benefit of the doubt. But if this is standard procedure, then that is wrong (again, I can’t judge anyone based off this one incident, esp if he got the “healthy grilled chicken” option

No worries bro, always happy to share stories from the few times I've been lucky enough to meet the boys. I agree that its no big deal if he eats like this on the odd occasion, and I just hope that is the case. I do fear though that this wasn't a one off, because seversl boys were treating this as a standard meal, something they were having daily during the World Cup. Hopefully things have changed since then.

I agree on Wahab. He was in Canada in 2019 for gt20 league. I was in the crowd. We cheered him on when he was fielding right by us and he just gave us an annoyed look.

Hafeez was there too and he smiled and waved back at us.

Yep Wahab is a really strange one. In interviews he is so cheerful and happy. In real life he is often very grumpy! Hafeez on the other hand is again a really fun character similar to the way Shaheen is.

 

[Titan24]

That is why i mentioned Rohit Sharma as well. I am not claiming some superiority. All I said was the Indian pacers are more game fit, especially for Test Matches.
People got triggered, ke bhai Indian players ke saath kaise compare kar dia and started calling them wannabes and male prostitutes and what not.
I still stand by statement, most of the Indian players are more game fit to last the grind of 5 day test matches. It is pretty evident that most of the Pak players are not.

I agree and have said the same in my post that Indian players have been much better with regards to match fitness over the years.

 

[Saj]

You only have to look at some of the players who are playing in Pakistan's ongoing premier T20 tournament to realise that fitness is still an afterthought.

I mean some of these guys are massively overweight and certainly not athletes. They can't run, they can't field, but it seems we are ok with it because from time to time they can hit 4s and 6s.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

View attachment 107356

View attachment 107357

 

[Sher Khan]

An interesting comment from Wahab Riaz but one that is not hard to believe. A few of the Pakistani players were unable to complete a 2KM run at the training camp recently.

Babar is one that comes to mind who has poor fitness levels and has developed a tummy. Their are a few other obvious ones such as Azam Khan, etc.

Do you believe the Pakistani players are short on fitness standards?

 

[Scoop_shot]

babar azam also

 

[Rana]

This was because Babar Azam changed the culture to Dosti+Yaari instead of hard work and grit.

The old management hijacked by player power believed unity and camaraderie would win them tournaments instead of being fit and strong enough to compete. That’s why the restaurant+cake ceremony culture was taken to the next level.

Babar and his friends where probably out dining in the best restaurants on the PCB’s expense as a part of this team bonding culture. Of course you would have guys like Iftikhar saying it is a sin to criticise Babar, because Babar made sure that everyone was well fed and is living the finest life under him as captain.

 

[Varun]

Nothing new. It would be threadworthy if Pakistan players - even one of them - developed fitness akin to a regular sportsman.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Even Indians are like that. Divided by border but united in indiscipline. Look how big Rohit's belly is now, no wonder he throws it away after 30-40 runs, because he isn't fit enough to play long innings. Had he been fit, that 45 something in WC final would have been 145. Even when yo yo tests were a thing, the passing marks for Indians and Pakistanis was much lower than SENA counterparts. Then we wonder why Asian teams underachieve so much. This is part of our culture now, can't blame just the players. Look around us, that will tell how unserious our people are about basic fitness.

 

[Rana]

It’s funny how the old management compromised on fielding but the excuse to keep Sharjeel out of the side was his fitness

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

It’s funny how the old management compromised on fielding but the excuse to keep Sharjeel out of the side was his fitness

And now the boy is an obese kid Azam Khan

 

[Rana]

And now the boy is an obese kid Azam Khan

Sharjeel is as fat as Babar and Imam these days

 

[Asad T]

An interesting comment from Wahab Riaz but one that is not hard to believe. A few of the Pakistani players were unable to complete a 2KM run at the training camp recently.

Babar is one that comes to mind who has poor fitness levels and has developed a tummy. Their are a few other obvious ones such as Azam Khan, etc.

Do you believe the Pakistani players are short on fitness standards?

hahahhaha
where did he say this?

 

[Sher Khan]

hahahhaha
where did he say this?

Journalist quoted him as saying that

 

[Sher Khan]

Even Indians are like that. Divided by border but united in indiscipline. Look how big Rohit's belly is now, no wonder he throws it away after 30-40 runs, because he isn't fit enough to play long innings. Had he been fit, that 45 something in WC final would have been 145. Even when yo yo tests were a thing, the passing marks for Indians and Pakistanis was much lower than SENA counterparts. Then we wonder why Asian teams underachieve so much. This is part of our culture now, can't blame just the players. Look around us, that will tell how unserious our people are about basic fitness.

Bro, Indian players are no comparison to Pakistani players.

Rohit Sharma has the ability to hit double centuries and bat all day in the sapping heat of India. His cricket fitness is good enough.

 

[FearlessRoar]

WahabRiaz was speaking on a local Pakistani news channel and stated:

"We must have fitness tests. I told you that when we came, unfortunately, we had to announce the team. We are getting some news that maybe the fitness of the players…, the interesting thing is that what you talked about, I would like to tell you that from the previous management, we have heard that do not ask the players about their fitness. The logic behind this was that they pampered the players a lot. Let me tell you that some players couldn’t even run 2 km."