Representative image© AFP
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez recently opened up about his stint with the national side as team director and revealed that there were no fitness tests conducted in the team ahead of the Cricket World Cup 2023. During his appearance on the Club Praire Fire podcast with Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan, Hafeez also said that the fat percentage had gone up in the players and they were not able to complete some of the fitness exercises. While the allegations did cause quite a stir among fans, former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt was not impressed. Butt said that Hafeez should not have said all this on an international standard and he should have taken steps to rectify the situation during his tenure.
“Maybe, he is saying as it is. But whose job was it to ensure that? You are complaining about your team’s matters on international platforms. You were team director. It was your job to pick the right people,” Butt said on a YouTube show, Cricket Baithak.
“You picked those people who, on their own, may never be there. You didn’t take fitness tests. Who stopped you? Or should I call it incompetence or lack of control? They were your juniors. You couldn’t take the tests?”
“You’re ranting to Adam (Gilchrist), ‘I wanted to do this and do that, but they didn’t listen to me. I was the team director’. For god’s sake, what were you trying to do? No one leaves their job until they’re sacked. Now, you go to an international platform and start complaining there. Why didn’t you say that when you were here?”
“Why didn’t you ask for more power and backing? I don’t know what to agree with or what not to. When someone else played Amir, he was a criminal. But it’s fine when you call him yourself,” he added.
Pakistan crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024 in the group stage after losing to United States and India.
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