Ramiz slams players’ fitness, says they lack passion

Pakistan´s batsman Azhar Ali (L) leaves the field retired hurt during the one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and Australia in Brisbane — AFP Photo.

KARACHI: Former captain Ramiz Raja on Friday after Pakistan’s 92-run defeat against Australia, said that the players are not serious about their fitness and lack passion for it.

Talking to Geo News, he said that the fitness of players can be assessed just by looking at the shapes and sizes of the players.

“Just one jersey would fit every Australian player but all our players have different sizes. This is due to lack of fitness which shows in their performance”, he added.

He said that the fitness levels of Australian and Pakistani players were not even comparable as the Australians were far superior in this regard.

The former captain said the players should be questioned when they get back to cricket after a layoff if they are not found fit enough.

“These players are centrally contracted by Pakistan Cricket Board. When they get back to cricket, they should be questioned”, he added.

Earlier, Pakistan, chasing a target of 269 runs set by host Australia, were bowled out for a paltry 176 during the first ODI.

No Pakistan batsman could manage to match innings played by Australia’s Mather Wade who scored a century at a difficult situation.

Babar Azam, 33, top scored for Pakistan.

After the defeat, Pakistan captain Azhar Ali said that the first half of the match was good for them but Wade played a good inning.

"We thought from five down for 78 we can get them out early, but unfortunately it didn't happen”, he added.

Azhar further said that it was still a chase-able total but they needed to have good partnerships up front.