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The Pakistan Test team is currently gearing up for the upcoming crucial Test series against the West Indies and England after an embarrassing whitewash of 0-2 in Bangladesh. As they aim for a strong comeback under Babar Azam’s captaincy, Pakistan head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed has admitted that some players are still struggling with fitness.
This update has raised concerns because Pakistan will be playing in tough conditions where fitness will be very important. However, Sarfaraz Ahmed expressed full faith in the new Test captain, Babar Azam. He believes Babar has enough experience to handle the pressure during the challenging tours.
Sarfaraz Ahmed admits Pakistan is still battling fitness problems
Sarfaraz Ahmed revealed that the Pakistan Test team has recently completed a month-long red-ball training camp in Lahore. During the camp, the coaching staff found fitness issues with a few players. While some of those problems were fixed during the training camp, a few players still need more work before the team leaves for the West Indies tour followed by England.
The coach further shared that the fitness concerns prompted Pakistan to hold another short conditioning camp in Islamabad, starting Thursday, July 9. The main aim of this camp is to improve the fitness of those players and make sure the squad is fully ready before the Test tour begins.
Sarfaraz Ahmed told the media, as quoted by PTI: “Some of the fitness issues were resolved during the camp, but some still remain, and we will have another short conditioning camp in Islamabad from tomorrow (Thursday) and try to sort them out as well.”
Sarfaraz Ahmed backs Babar Azam to handle captaincy pressure
Sarfaraz also spoke about Babar Azam's return as Pakistan's Test captain. He said Babar has already led the team before, so he understands the pressure and responsibility that comes with the job.
The former captain is confident that Babar would do a great job on the West Indies and England tours. Amid this, Babar Azam set to reclaim Pakistan's T20I captaincy after Test role.
Babar Azam makes Fitness and Discipline his top priorities
Babar has already shared what he wants from the team. In a recent Pakistan Cricket Board podcast, he said fitness and discipline will be his biggest priorities as captain. He believes that if players stay fit and remain disciplined, the team will have a much better chance of getting good results.
Pakistan's upcoming schedule is challenging. They will first play a two-match Test series in the West Indies before traveling to England for the three-match Test series. These matches will be played during July, August, and early September in touch conditions.
Pakistan aims strong ICC World Test Championship comeback
Babar also knows how important these games are for Pakistan's campaign in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27. The star batter said the team needs to perform much better in the remaining matches if they want to improve their position on the WTC points table.
They are currently sitting at the bottom of the table with three loses from four games. Well, the new Pakistan captain also believes that even though white-ball cricket is becoming more popular, Test cricket still remains the biggest test for any player, and a player is remembered for how he performs in the purest form of the game.
