Why are most of our players so underweight and slight?

[GLORY OF '92]

To be honest it's embarrassing and is a key reason why we struggle with power hitting.

Even Kohli who was sleight when be came into international cricket has bulked up yet our players remain their fragile selves. The 6 Kohli hit off Hasan straight was a shortish ball. That was sheer power.

None our players can do that.

Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Razzaq and now....

What's the cause?

Don't give me "it doesn't matter."

Clearly our lack of strength is destroying our batting, fielding and bowling.

 

[Jatt_bonebreaker]

akmal says fitness is overrated

 

[GenericBrand]

Akmal says its because of water

 

[gishy]

There was quite a few wobbling bellies yesterday too...Imad and Sarfraz for example

 

[sam_ahm]

I felt that since a long time too, if you look at the Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans, Englishmen, Westindians, most of them are well built and capable of hitting big.

Having said that, Pakistani players lack intent as well. Look at Hardik Pandya, he is not very huge but look at the way he went, absolutely smashed Imad Wasim and there were no two thoughts in his mind, look at Dinesh Karthik, very slim and short but boy he doesn't lack intent, none 0f the indians do, they are clear in their minds

Pakistani players of the past had a fearless attitude, they used to just go for it, this team is very timid, they seriously lack intent and courage. I mean you cannot die wondering.

 

[Shutdown Corner]

Bowling fast has nothing to do with muscles. Some quick bowlers are muscular, others are not.

Hitting big similarly has nothing to do with muscles. Some big hitters are strongly built like KP but look at Hardik Pandya's build.

Fast bowling has to do with fitness, diet, mental drive, fast twitch muslce fibres.

Big hitting has to do with timing, skill, hand eye coordination.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Hardik Pandya is wir. But he is very strong. Another thing is his bat speed and timing. Azhar's bat speed was far less.
Essentially 3 things are important

1) Timing - Yuvraj, Rohit two solid examples

2) Power - Dhoni, Gayle, etc..

3) Bat speed - Sehwag, Finch etc..

Most of these players are combination of more than one thing. Pakistan players lack timing. They very rarely time the ball

 

[MMHS]

I don't think PAK players are underweight, rather most of them are actually over weight. It's the problem in alignment - total body mass is ok, but disproportionately distributed. Also, there is a big problem of fat % - most of them enjoys junk food, sugar & oil/fat - more than body needs or can consume.

 

[MMHS]

Hardik Pandya is wir. But he is very strong. Another thing is his bat speed and timing. Azhar's bat speed was far less.
Essentially 3 things are important

1) Timing - Yuvraj, Rohit two solid examples

2) Power - Dhoni, Gayle, etc..

3) Bat speed - Sehwag, Finch etc..

Most of these players are combination of more than one thing. Pakistan players lack timing. They very rarely time the ball

And

4. Back lift. Players are groomed in dead slow & low wickets, which doesn't encourage high back-lift. Imagine Tamim's back lift & Azhar's back lift.

5. Foot work, which allows to reach the pitch of the ball & get under it; and shift of body weight.

 

[PakLFC]

Can't help when it comes to height unless they pick guy's from KPK just for that reason alone. What they can do is eat healthy and spend time in the gym to build their muscles. You don't need to be a Hulk to hit sixer's as the Indian boys have proved. Kohli, Yuvraj and Pandya are average built boy's.

 

[humzy]

diet training and genetics. Pashtuns are obviously more naturally gifted when it comes to athleticism but the rest are just not training and dieting the correct way to get the most out of their genetics

 

[Rafa]

Bowling fast has nothing to do with muscles. Some quick bowlers are muscular, others are not.

Hitting big similarly has nothing to do with muscles. Some big hitters are strongly built like KP but look at Hardik Pandya's build.

Fast bowling has to do with fitness, diet, mental drive, fast twitch muslce fibres.

Big hitting has to do with timing, skill, hand eye coordination.

Strongly built Batsmen tend to hit to huge with ease.

The skinny shorty Bunch of Bangladesh like Tamim, Imrul, Shakib, Mushfiq can't hit big like Gayle, Sammy, Pollard, Russel and others .

There is a reason why some countries produce big hitters in plenty while others haven't produced even one.

 

[Zak_Fan]

I have noticed that most of the Pakistani players are quite small these days, specially young pacers.

 

[Swanny]

not enough meat in their diet /sarcasm

 

[Slog]

diet training and genetics. Pashtuns are obviously more naturally gifted when it comes to athleticism but the rest are just not training and dieting the correct way to get the most out of their genetics

lol pashtun cricketers in recent years have been total choozay. Stop peddling this myth

Junaid Khan, Imran Khan Jr, Yasir Shah, Yasir Hameed, Iftikhar etc are all anything but standard bearers for athleticism. Even the slightly well built folk like Imran Khan Sr. are trundlers

 

[Slog]

not enough meat in their diet /sarcasm

its true

they are not having enough beef

 

[hafeezrocks]

Pashtuns are athletic? Afridi was athletic like West Africans? I think some folks are confusing Raw Strength needed to hit huge sixes with athleticism.

 

[muqarrab]

To be honest it's embarrassing and is a key reason why we struggle with power hitting.

Even Kohli who was sleight when be came into international cricket has bulked up yet our players remain their fragile selves. The 6 Kohli hit off Hasan straight was a shortish ball. That was sheer power.

None our players can do that.

Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Razzaq and now....

What's the cause?

Don't give me "it doesn't matter."

Clearly our lack of strength is destroying our batting, fielding and bowling.

How does imad pass fitness test with his ponch?

 

[JibranAnsari]

High body fat ratio , have you ever heard if the term skinny fat. Most of these guys are not musculur.

 

[SandyB]

The best example is Kohli. Kohli wasn't hitting sixes like this earlier, its the stronger muscles. Yuvi always had amazing bat-swing and Rohit has huge natural ability to time . It's Kohli who has shown the greatest improvement in hitting ability due to improved fitness .

 

[JaDed]

Yuvraj isn't average by any standards. [MENTION=142169]PakLFC[/MENTION]

 

[Jatt_bonebreaker]

pakistanis are weak not because of bad genetics but because they are lazy.. geneticz wont make you woke up at 5 and workout

 

[squarecut]

Yuvraj is not of average built. He is tall and quite a strongly built person. Dhoni, a bit shorter, is extremely strongly built too.

Others may not look strongly built, but they have clearly done weight training and other specialized exercises that enable them to hit the cricket ball a long way.

 

[Jatt_bonebreaker]

Yuvraj is 6 feet 2 and mesomorphic body frame .. not average by any means

 

[Fitness_era]

Exactly my point look at amir when he started his still.the same.
Now look at starc, cummimes, mile when they started they were skinny now they ard well built and muscular = more pace.

 

[Napa]

Mohammad Azharuddin used to have the lightest bat in world cricket. 2 lbs. He had great bat speed also power.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re2w51AuENA

A light bat will be used by a weaker player, not sure what your point is?

Also Azhar is no example of a fit player, besides being of dubious character he wasn't particularly hard-working.

 

[humzy]

I know a lot of Pashtuns and i regularly see that they have different genetic capabilities when it comes to sport if you compare to other parts of pakistan especially Sindhis. To say that there isn't genetic differences between different ethnicities is just silly. BTW i am Punjabi and i regularly see our people as the strong tall type who are built for wrestling, but without the flexibility and athleticism that i see with Pashtuns.

 

[Napa]

I know a lot of Pashtuns and i regularly see that they have different genetic capabilities when it comes to sport if you compare to other parts of pakistan especially Sindhis. To say that there isn't genetic differences between different ethnicities is just silly. BTW i am Punjabi and i regularly see our people as the strong tall type who are built for wrestling, but without the flexibility and athleticism that i see with Pashtuns.

In the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Haryana by itself won 4 Golds and 10 Silvers. The entire country of Pakistan including all its Pushtuns won 0 Golds and 3 Silvers. Haryanvis are the most athletic of all in the SC.

 

[cr7great]

haryana have a strong culture of playing physical sports.

 

[Jatt_bonebreaker]

In the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Haryana by itself won 4 Golds and 10 Silvers. The entire country of Pakistan including all its Pushtuns won 0 Golds and 3 Silvers. Haryanvis are the most athletic of all in the SC.

aveneet sidhu has won olympic gold medal in shooting. milkha singh the flying sikh and many others are from punjab.. 8 olympic gold medals were won by feild hockey team with mainly punjabi players. and many more... Indian punjabis are the most athletic in subcontinent if you look at it that way..

 

[cr7great]

aveneet sidhu has won olympic gold medal in shooting. milkha singh the flying sikh and many others are from punjab.. 8 olympic gold medals were won by feild hockey team with mainly punjabi players. and many more... Indian punjabis are the most athletic in subcontinent if you look at it that way..

shooting is not physical sport
and milkha and hockey medals happened long long time ago

 

[Napa]

shooting is not physical sport
and milkha and hockey medals happened long long time ago

Quite right! Nobody comes close to the Haryanvis in the SC at this point. They are in a league by themselves.

 

[Yoddha]

aveneet sidhu has won olympic gold medal in shooting. milkha singh the flying sikh and many others are from punjab.. 8 olympic gold medals were won by feild hockey team with mainly punjabi players. and many more... Indian punjabis are the most athletic in subcontinent if you look at it that way..

Haryanvis bro...I am from Delhi and a neutral. Haryana > Punjab when it comes to sports, athleticism, agility etc.

 

[humzy]

In the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Haryana by itself won 4 Golds and 10 Silvers. The entire country of Pakistan including all its Pushtuns won 0 Golds and 3 Silvers. Haryanvis are the most athletic of all in the SC.

Well thats a very simpleton view of athleticism? Just because a group won more medals at a skill based sport doesn't mean they are more gifted athletically, there is also a much bigger influence called skill, talent and training.

 

[BlueAngel]

In the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Haryana by itself won 4 Golds and 10 Silvers. The entire country of Pakistan including all its Pushtuns won 0 Golds and 3 Silvers. Haryanvis are the most athletic of all in the SC.

In my opinion Haryana Jats are the strongest ethnicity in entire sub continent. On average they are very strongly built and have a disciplined lifestyle, be it men or women. Staying away from drugs and tobacco and working out is the new norm over there.

in 2010 CG games India won 100 medals out of which 37 were won by haryanvi's which is more then most of the countries of the region. They represent 5%< population of India but won 37% of medals, that tells you something.

 

[Yoddha]

In my opinion Haryana Jats are the strongest ethnicity in entire sub continent. On average they are very strongly built and have a disciplined lifestyle, be it men or women. Staying away from drugs and tobacco and working out is the new norm over there.

in 2010 CG games India won 100 medals out of which 37 were won by haryanvi's which is more then most of the countries of the region. They represent 5%< population of India but won 37% of medals, that tells you something.

Both non-jaats and jaats from Haryana. They make good armymen and good sportsmen, Wrestling, boxing, kabaddi etc.

 

[Shutdown Corner]

Strongly built Batsmen tend to hit to huge with ease.

The skinny shorty Bunch of Bangladesh like Tamim, Imrul, Shakib, Mushfiq can't hit big like Gayle, Sammy, Pollard, Russel and others .

There is a reason why some countries produce big hitters in plenty while others haven't produced even one.

Tamim is actually quite strong...when he hits the ball, it stays hit. You don't see it because ever since the 2010 season he has redefined his game to play the anchor role. Thats why he has a tuk tuk strike rate under 80 in ODIs and his SR has dropped in Tests from 60+ to 50. Tamim is neither skinny nor short (for a batsmen) as he is about 5'10".

 

[JaDed]

aveneet sidhu has won olympic gold medal in shooting. milkha singh the flying sikh and many others are from punjab.. 8 olympic gold medals were won by feild hockey team with mainly punjabi players. and many more... Indian punjabis are the most athletic in subcontinent if you look at it that way..

Punjabis were the strongest, but Haryana has reached diff levels thanks to their state which encouraged sports and physical education and whole of India is just catching up now.

 

[SandyB]

aveneet sidhu has won olympic gold medal in shooting. milkha singh the flying sikh and many others are from punjab.. 8 olympic gold medals were won by feild hockey team with mainly punjabi players. and many more... Indian punjabis are the most athletic in subcontinent if you look at it that way..

I disagree when it comes to endurance sports. The national level athletics meets in India have a very high proportion of winners from Kerala for decades and south indians from the western ghats (has to do with the terrain I suppose) . Especially in the running, sprinting, long-jumps etc . Even without the same level of sports infrastructure as other states, Kerala has contributed a good number of India's olympics level athletes in these categories.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Punjabis were the strongest, but Haryana has reached diff levels thanks to their state which encouraged sports and physical education and whole of India is just catching up now.

Haryanvis are Punjabis. Drawing an imaginary doesn't suddenly change genetics. It's the same people. The reason they're so successful is because it's become a culture there and they take pride in it so every young kid is inspired and wants to compete.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Pakistani cricketer's are what you call skinny fat. Higher body fat percentage, look fit with a shirt on but have weight in all the wrong places, like [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] said, overall weight would be OK but disproportionately distributed. A key thing to note is the players waist size. A fit person would never have a waist size bigger than 32, but I'm sure most of out cricketers exceed that. They need to cut down on carbs and increase protein.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Pakistani cricketer's are what you call skinny fat. Higher body fat percentage, look fit with a shirt on but have weight in all the wrong places, like [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] said, overall weight would be OK but disproportionately distributed. A key thing to note is the players waist size. A fit person would never have a waist size bigger than 32, but I'm sure most of out cricketers exceed that. They need to cut down on carbs and increase protein.

Pakistanis in general are a lot less fit than they used to be a couple of generations ago. Junk food and bad eating habits have exploded since then without any of the similar focus on fitness and diet we see in western countries with the same problems.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Pakistanis in general are a lot less fit than they used to be a couple of generations ago. Junk food and bad eating habits have exploded since then without any of the similar focus on fitness and diet we see in western countries with the same problems.

I agree. Pakistani's have always loved eating out however, in order to lower costs and maximize profits, businessmen running restaurants and fast food chains have become vile and started feeding us poison. Another important thing to note is the chicken we eat is worse than any junk food, fizzy drinks or sweet. Farm bred chickens who are artificially made fatter and bigger using hormones and other dangerous meds.

 

[Jatt_bonebreaker]

Punjabis were the strongest, but Haryana has reached diff levels thanks to their state which encouraged sports and physical education and whole of India is just catching up now.

In spite of that haryana won 15 medals for india in 2014 commonwealth games and punjab won 9.. punjabis are 2% of indian population and haryanvis 5% ... punjabis on per capita basis r still better and mind it there were punjabi winning medals for other countries too...

and BTW ist olympic medals rated higher than commonwealth games medals where only a few nations participate ... only punjabis have won individual gold medals in olympicz

 

[Yoddha]

Pakistanis in general are a lot less fit than they used to be a couple of generations ago. Junk food and bad eating habits have exploded since then without any of the similar focus on fitness and diet we see in western countries with the same problems.

Arre yeh galat hai bhai...pehli bhi 2-4 fit player the tumhare...the rest were Salim Malik, inzi , Javed miandad. You were never fast runners between the wkts. You were never good fielders.

 

[Yoddha]

In spite of that haryana won 15 medals for india in 2014 commonwealth games and punjab won 9.. punjabis are 2% of indian population and haryanvis 5% ... punjabis on per capita basis r still better and mind it there were punjabi winning medals for other countries too...

and BTW ist olympic medals rated higher than commonwealth games medals where only a few nations participate ... only punjabis have won individual gold medals in olympicz

Haryana and Delhi churn out 5 better wrestlers and boxers in each weight category than the best that Punjab can...Apne muh Miyan mitthu ban Raha hai tu bhai...

Haan, in food, dance, music, singing, songs Punjab is fantastic. But not in sports.

 

[Napa]

In spite of that haryana won 15 medals for india in 2014 commonwealth games and punjab won 9.. punjabis are 2% of indian population and haryanvis 5% ... punjabis on per capita basis r still better and mind it there were punjabi winning medals for other countries too...

and BTW ist olympic medals rated higher than commonwealth games medals where only a few nations participate ... only punjabis have won individual gold medals in olympicz

The amount of made up statistics in PP is mind-boggling. Population of Punjab is 27,704,236 and population of Haryana is 27,761,063.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab,_India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haryana

Also, yes Haryana won 15 and Punjab 9, but Punjab was mostly bronzes.

One shoot gold in the Olympics is irrelevant for judging athleticism.

 

[Azrim_91]

The whole team is either overweight or underweight aka unfit

Hafeez= old
Malik = old
Imad = fat
Sarfraz = fat
Azhar = fat
Amir = weak
Junaid = weak / slow
Babar = anorexic and weak

Hasan = slim build but needs to get more athletic
Shadab = same as Hasan

 

[Jatt_bonebreaker]

Huh. Indias pride virat kohli is Punjabi enough said

 

[MMHS]

Pakistanis in general are a lot less fit than they used to be a couple of generations ago. Junk food and bad eating habits have exploded since then without any of the similar focus on fitness and diet we see in western countries with the same problems.

That's globally true these days. Apart from war torn areas & Africa, more or less obese is the biggest disease these days. But, we are talking about professional players here - PAK players have no excuse for that. They are paid at least 25X times than an average Pakistani - keeping fitness & body weight in check is part of their profession.

 

[JaDed]

In spite of that haryana won 15 medals for india in 2014 commonwealth games and punjab won 9.. punjabis are 2% of indian population and haryanvis 5% ... punjabis on per capita basis r still better and mind it there were punjabi winning medals for other countries too...

and BTW ist olympic medals rated higher than commonwealth games medals where only a few nations participate ... only punjabis have won individual gold medals in olympicz

Bindra? He is the only Indian to have won the gold but shooting has nothing to with athleticism.

 

[CricVet]

Arre yeh galat hai bhai...pehli bhi 2-4 fit player the tumhare...the rest were Salim Malik, inzi , Javed miandad. You were never fast runners between the wkts. You were never good fielders.

Javed Miandad in his prime would put any of the Pak or Ind players into shame. He was supremely fit and Probably the fastest ever between wickets in Asia. It was later in his late 30s he had a belly and still was pretty quick. The only other quick runners I can think of is Asif Iqbal and Azharuddin from India.

 

[Yoddha]

Javed Miandad in his prime would put any of the Pak or Ind players into shame. He was supremely fit and Probably the fastest ever between wickets in Asia. It was later in his late 30s he had a belly and still was pretty quick. The only other quick runners I can think of is Asif Iqbal and Azharuddin from India.

Chhod bhai...Miandad is said to be Street smart, not fit. I have seen videos of him during his playing days.

In front of Kohli and Dhoni, he (Miandad) is a nobody when it comes to running between the wickets.

 

[NA]

Chhod bhai...Miandad is said to be Street smart, not fit. I have seen videos of him during his playing days.

In front of Kohli and Dhoni, he (Miandad) is a nobody when it comes to running between the wickets.

You didn't live through 80s and watch Miandad pace one awesome ODI inning after another. Not only he could play anywhere in the field and pick gaps with ease, he was lightning quick when running between wickets. His typical long ODI inning would have only couple of boundaries in the first 60 or so runs (at strike rate of roughly 75, meaning lots of singles and doubles), and then an explosion of fours and sixes at the end. He was extremely fit and putting him and Inzi in the same sentence about fitness is laughable.

 

[Markhor]

How well built are the England batsmen ? Power hitting isn't simply about muscling the ball over the fence - there are technical aspects to the art involving your bat swing, reflexes, hand-eye coordination, your stance and so on. Look at Jos Buttler for example.

England hired a baseball coach in Julian Wood to work with the A and national teams with the belief that baseball hitting skills could be transferred into the world of cricket and you can see the results.

 

[Musakhel]

lol pashtun cricketers in recent years have been total choozay. Stop peddling this myth

Junaid Khan, Imran Khan Jr, Yasir Shah, Yasir Hameed, Iftikhar etc are all anything but standard bearers for athleticism. Even the slightly well built folk like Imran Khan Sr. are trundlers

Yasir hameed and iftikhar are not pashtuns, the others are bowlers do you really expect 6 hitting ability from them?

 

[Slog]

Yasir hameed and iftikhar are not pashtuns, the others are bowlers do you really expect 6 hitting ability from them?

they are

 

[troodon]

Haryanvis are Punjabis. Drawing an imaginary doesn't suddenly change genetics. It's the same people. The reason they're so successful is because it's become a culture there and they take pride in it so every young kid is inspired and wants to compete.

Haryana, Punjab, Himachal, Delhi was all Punjab on Indian side.

I agree that simply diving the big Punjab into 3 states does not make them different. They are all same people.

 

[Mamoon]

they are

Yasir Hameed is not a Pathan, he is a Peshori - the original dwellers of Peshawar. They speak Hindko.

 

[classic]

Have you seen the size of Kholis bat. That is some wood.

 

[TahirFan]

Have you seen the size of Kholis bat. That is some wood.

Klusener could hit the ball much harder than Kohli.

Klusener once commented "The secret to hard hitting is timing". He was a very light bat

 

[classic]

I agree timing plays a big part but a good crafted bat with plenty of meat and thick edges which is forgiving helps a lot too.

I am shocked at some of these new bats nowadays they do give a massive advantage and confidence to the batsman.

 

[Jatt_bonebreaker]

Haryana and Delhi churn out 5 better wrestlers and boxers in each weight category than the best that Punjab can...Apne muh Miyan mitthu ban Raha hai tu bhai...

Haan, in food, dance, music, singing, songs Punjab is fantastic. But not in sports.

so only wrestling is criteria lol... wrestling is not big in punjab like it is in haryana where there are akharas every here and there .. Punjabis are more into body building and kabaddi now a days and amateur wrestling is rare. Even in villages its rare to see people wrestling in spite of that punjab has given india DARA SINGH, Jinder mahal is punjabi.

Pamela rai Punjabi canadian won bronze in olympicz..ARjan Bhullar has won gold in wrestling at commonwealth games.. Take a look at the number of medals won by punjabis in indian national games.. punjab most of the times were placed first.. dunno why non punjabis have this difficulty in accepting our dominance and make up the stories no no no punjabis aint but its haryana, U.P , himachal etc whos better in blah blah..and then they show themselves as neutral but actullay have vested interests .. maybe for guys like you punjabis aint indian enough because we are mostly sikhs