LAHORE: Fast bowler Mohammad Amir and all-rounder Imad Wasim are among the 29 players invited by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to participate in a two-week physical fitness camp supervised by the Pakistan Army at Kakul in Abbottabad from March. 26 tomorrow.
The fitness camp will help the newly constituted selection committee comprising of Test cricketers Muhammad Yousaf, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq and Asad Shafiq to select the squad for the upcoming home T20I series against New Zealand, away tours to Ireland and England apart from the ICC Men’s T20I. TOILET.
The selection committee will also decide whether to keep Shaheen Shah Afridi as captain or hand over the responsibility to another player after considering technical aspects and data, as indicated by PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi during a press conference held yesterday.
The fitness camp has been strategically designed to prepare the players for the upcoming series and tournaments including the home T20I series against New Zealand, away T20I series against Ireland and England and the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies.
The 14-day camp will start on March 26 and end on April 8.
The camp will focus on team building and aims to increase the physical and mental strength of the players and ensure they are in the best shape to face the challenges ahead. Led by experienced coaches and trainers, players will undergo a comprehensive training regime tailored to increase their fitness, agility, leadership and strategic thinking and overall performance on the pitch.
The newly established selection committee selected the following players for the camp:
Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah, Saud Shakeel, Usman Khan, Mohammad Haris, Salman Ali Agha, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Irfan Khan Niazi, Shadab Khan, Imad Mohammad, Usama Mir Nawaz, Mehran Mumtaz, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Ali, Zaman Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Aamir Jamal, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Amir.
Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim were invited to the camp after both the cricketers came out of retirement and made themselves available for selection for the ICC mega event in USA and West Indies. Both players will need to excel during the upcoming five-match home T20I series against New Zealand from April 20 to brighten their chances of selection for the T20 World Cup.
Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir join the camp with hot form in the recently concluded HBL PSL 9. Imad Wasim’s all-round performance helped his team win the HBL PSL 9 title while Mohammad Amir picked 9 wickets in as many matches.
