Pakistani cricketers in Kakul

A fitness camp for Pakistani cricketers in Kakul where ‘cricket is not played but exercises are done with military trainers.They chased us away on the first day and broke us. Believe me, on the first day I was sitting on the commode. After two weeks, I felt such fitness that I cannot describe in words.

Former Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik had described the fitness camp in Kakul in a show called ‘The Pavilion’. Before the tour of England in 2016, he was talking about the boot camp of Pakistani athletes at the Army School of Physical Training. Former captain Misbah-ul-Haq along with Shoaib Malik were also present in this camp.

Now again 29 Pakistani cricketers are involved in the fitness camp in Kakul which will continue from March 26 to April 8 and in some of the early highlights, the players can be seen doing various exercises instead of playing cricket.

A statement from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said, “The focus of this camp will be on team building and its aim is to increase the mental and physical strength of the players and enable them to compete in the upcoming tournaments.” I am in the best condition to face the difficulties.

The PCB statement also said that the purpose of this camp is to prepare the Pakistani players for the upcoming series and tournaments, including the one played in the country against New Zealand and the one played abroad against England and Ireland. Apart from the T20 series, the T20 World Cup held in America and West Indies is also included.

Remember that after the camp in 2016, Misbah-ul-Haq did ten push-ups for his military trainers in the joy of scoring a century in the Test match against England.

What happens in an army-supervised camp?

Videos of past fitness camps posted on the Pakistan Cricket Board’s YouTube channel include videos of players climbing stairs, standing upright on stairs, landing on both feet, and doing pull-ups.

Talking to BBC, Media Director of Pakistan Cricket Board Alia Rashid said that in the training given by the army, cricket is not being played, but there are exercises like running and body building etc.

In pictures posted on PCB’s social media accounts, the players can be seen jogging and lifting weights in the gym.

Apart from this, a few hours ago, highlights of the first day of the fitness camp this time were shown on PCB’s YouTube channel in a vlog in which the players can be seen doing different types of exercises.

In this video, the players are running, stretching the body, they can also be seen doing planks.

One thing is clear that these drills and exercises are quite difficult and demanding.

During the exercises, the Vlog host asked various questions to the players and during this time they were out of breath and did not feel comfortable answering.

The host asks Shadab Khan during the plank if he is having ‘fun’, to which he replies, ‘No, not at all.’

After that he addresses the cricketer Hasan Ali and says that ‘We see him doing art’, to which he says ‘Aaj art nahi kar rahe bhai’.

Similarly, when Naseem Shah was planning and an attempt was made to talk to him about how his experience in this camp is going, he said, “It is my first time and I will tell you when the training session is over.”

The video neither fully answered the questions posed to the athletes nor showed all the exercises in detail, but fans of the athletes praised the effort on social media and some called it very important for the athletes.

User Shamail Khan on X recalled the last fitness camp and said that he remembers the camp during Misbah’s time after which the team performed well in England.

“This is a great opportunity for our boys,” Mayra Nasir wrote on X. Hopefully, this will improve their performance in the World Cup.

Under the video on YouTube, Mohammad Kaif expressed his concern and said that it was supposed to be a tough training session to improve the fitness of the most unfit cricketers in the world. But unfortunately media and entertainment will ruin it.

Here another user Shamim Zeeshan wrote in the comment that it is a good move that these players are training otherwise ‘in the first match of the tournament these people get injured and get out and the whole team leaves the tournament.

“Selection should be through process”

Some users on social media are also discussing whether the performance in PSL and Kakul Camp will determine the selection of this year’s T20 World Cup.

Former cricketer and ex-selection committee member Kamran Akmal has criticized the selection process of the players participating in the camp while referring to the fitness camp in Kakul in his recent vlog.

He says that it was strictly stated that only players who performed well in the PSL should be brought to the camp.

He said in V Lakh, ‘There is also a process of selection, we cannot ignore that cricket. If you work on the selection of PSL with the World Cup in mind, then that is not a good thing.

He further said that it is not a player’s fault that a franchise does not select him, so a process should be followed for the selection of players.

It should be noted that Pakistan’s former team manager Mohammad Hafeez had criticized the poor fitness of some players.

Former Pakistani fast bowler Tanveer Ahmed opined in his vlog that ‘(this) selection is wrong, they don’t play domestically, they play Pakistan from PSL.

He says that international cricket is not a street cricket that does not require fitness.

According to Tanveer Ahmed, some players join the team on the basis of skill without fitness, but they do not get service.