Pakistan women cricketers to undergo virtual fitness tests

These online video tests, which will include the players to undergo Prone Hold, Bulgarian Squats, Vertical Jumps and Push Ups, will begin from May 11 and run till May 20.

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In a bid to encourage their elite women cricketers to maintain their fitness standards amid this forced break due to coronavirus, the Pakistan national women's team management has decided to conduct online fitness tests on 38 of its players.

These online video tests, which will include the players to undergo Prone Hold, Bulgarian Squats, Vertical Jumps and Push Ups along with Body Mass Index calculation, will begin from May 11 and run till May 20.

The tests will be conducted under the supervision of interim fitness trainer Imran Khalil and that it will have no financial implications on the centrally contracted cricketers.

Reflecting on the same, Urooj Mumtaz, chair of the national women’s selection committee, said that the fitness tests have been modified to ensure they can be conducted without any equipment while staying indoors.

“Considering that these are unprecedented and uncertain times and the players are confined to train in whatever spaces are available to them, the testing battery has been modified to ensure they can be conducted without any equipment while staying indoors," the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) quoted Urooj Mumtaz as saying.

“At this stage, there will be no financial penalties in case a player fails to meet the desired benchmarks. However being professional cricketers we urge all the players to maintain their fitness levels to make sure that they are ready to go when cricket resumes," she added.

Notably, all the activities across the globe are at halt due to coronvirus pandemic that has affected more than 40,24,700 people worldwide and claimed the lives of more than 2,79,000 persons globally.