LAHORE - Chief selector Inzamam ul Haq observed the players attending the skill cricket training camp, which commenced here on Monday at the Gaddafi Stadium.
The chief selector watched the players while attending batting, bowling and fielding training sessions under scorching heat. The camp is part of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s efforts to equip the players with top fitness and form for the tough tour of England.
The players, pumped up with the presence of the chief selector, took extraordinary interest in their respective training sessions and exhibited higher level of participation by displaying their skills, techniques and stamina.
As many as 20 players reported on the opening day of the skill training cricket camp which is the second phase of preparations for the tour of England. The player, barring Test cricketer M Hafeez, attended two training sessions at Gaddafi Stadium and National Cricket Academy (NCA) under the watchful eyes of NCA head coach Mushtaq Ahmad and assistant manager Pakistan cricket team Shahid Aslam while team manager Intikhab Alam was also present on the occasion.
Mushtaq was ably assisted by batting coach Grant Flower, fielding coach Grant Luden and physiotherapist Shane Hayes to work on the gray areas of players, both in technical affairs related to improve their technique and skills as well as physical fitness, and engaged them in various training drills.
The players for seven day skill camp were named after the completion of a boot training camp at Abbottabad under the supervision of Pakistan Army’s physical instructors. The PCB is laying special emphasis on improving the physical fitness of the players in a bid to fully prepare the players ahead of the team selection to gain full fitness and form to produce desired results during the tour of England.
Hafeez inclusion in the camp was conditioned to regaining full fitness from a knee injury. “Hafeez has been advised complete rest by the doctors and that is why he did not report in the camp,” PCB spokesman said.
He said PCB medical experts were doing their best to help the injured batsman to be fit before the selection of the team. “They are closely monitoring his condition on daily basis to give their input at the time of selection and it is hoped that Hafeez will be available for the selection,” he added.
THE CAMP ATTENDANTS ARE:
OPENERS: Sami Aslam, Khurram Manzoor, and Shaan Masood.
MIDDLE ORDER BATSMEN: Azhar Ali, Younus Khan, Misbah ul Haq, Asad Shafiq, Iftikhar Ahmad, Asif Zakir and Akbar ur Rehman.
FAST BOWLERS: M Aamir, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Sohail Khan, Junaid Khan and Ehsan Adil.
SPINNERS: Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar.
WICKETKEEPERS: Sarfraz Ahmad and M Rizwan.