Babar Azam and Mickey Arthur asked to stop checking fitness of players: Mohammad Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez has claimed that former Pakistan captain Babar Azam and director of cricket Mickey Arthur had stopped fitness tests of players in 2023 and wanted to let everyone "play the way they want".

A former captain himself, Hafeez took over as the side's head coach and director in November 2023, replacing Arthur, who had been the coach since January. Around the same time, Babar stepped down as captain from all three formats.

“When we went to Australia, I told the players to take care of their fitness levels. I also asked the trainer about the fitness of the players. He told me a shocking thing that six months ago captain (Babar Azam) and Director of Cricket (Mickey Arthur) told me to stop checking the players on the fitness parameters and let them play the way they want," Hafeez said on A Sports.

Babar and Arthur's departures came soon after Pakistan's underwhelming performances in the 2023 Asia Cup and World Cup.

Hafeez oversaw a three-match Test tour to Australia followed by a five-game T20I rubber in New Zealand which ended in 3-0 and 4-1 defeats, respectively.

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"You will suffer defeats if the fitness is like that" - Mohammad Hafeez

Hafeez added that some of the players weren't even fit to compete in two-kilometer trial runs which had implications on the team's performance.

"When the fat levels of the players were checked, the skin fold of all of them was high - for most players it was 1.5 times the limit. They were unfit and some of them couldn’t complete a 2 KM trial run. The decision taken 6 months back overruled the set criteria for fitness. You will suffer defeats if the fitness is like that,” Hafeez added.

Most Pakistani players are currently playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL)

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