After the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023, many things have changed in Pakistan cricket. In the last few months, the team has had a new captain, a new coach and even the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has changed. As the 2024 T20 World Cup approaches, there has been excitement in Pakistan cricket over the last week. There are indications of a change in captaincy, with some players returning from retirement shortly before the World Cup. Amid all this, the Pakistan cricket team has suffered a major blow.
The explosive wicketkeeper-batsman failed the fitness test
Just before the 2024 T20 World Cup, Azam Khan has dealt a major blow to the Pakistan cricket team. Azam Khan is a wicketkeeper-batsman and is known for his explosive shots but he failed the fitness test. PCB had set up a training camp in Abbottabad. On the second day of camp, each player had to run 2 kilometers. All other players had completed the 2km race within 10 minutes, but Azam Khan could only run 1.5km within 10 minutes. He also completed this distance in 20 minutes, twice as long as planned.
Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi and many other players covered the distance of 2 km in less than 9 minutes. While Mohammad Nawaz ran 2 km in 9 minutes and 57 seconds. If Nawaz had given himself a little more time, he would have failed the fitness test.
Babar Azam was not seen during the fitness test
These days it has been announced that Babar Azam is set to take over as captain of the team again, but he did not take part in this fitness test. Babar is currently in Saudi Arabia and is expected to join the camp on March 28. Imad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman and Haris Rauf also did not appear in the fitness test. These players are currently either injured or recovering from an injury.