Almost 90% cricketers have passed the fitness test: Minhajul Abedin

With the upcoming Twenty20 tournament looming, local cricketers have been trying to get their fitness up to speed. 

With no cricketing action happening for almost seven months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cricketers have mostly been stuck at home and had to keep their fitness by workouts at home.

But that has hardly been ideal as they have been out of match practice and that has been evident in the batting performances in the BCB President's Cup 50-over tournament that recently concluded. 

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector and former national team player, Minhajul Abedin was pleased with the way the players have responded in the fitness test. 

He spoke to the media about the importance of maintaining that fitness after being away from cricket for a long period ahead of the T20 tournament and he also explained how the board had increased its standards of fitness for local and international cricketers. 

"The players are doing well in the beep test. Almost 90% of the players are passing it. We will do testing with another group of players on Tuesday. The way cricketers have been away from the game for a long time, they needed to prove their fitness again before the tournament and so far they have done well," Minhajul said to the media.

Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is back in the country after serving a year-long ban from cricket imposed by the ICC.

Minhajul said that he will be taking part in the fitness test on Tuesday: "Shakib just came back and we will have to give him some time to get back to his usual groove. He spoke with his trainer and hopefully, he will do well in the tournament." 

Former national team captains Mohammad Ashraful and Shahriar Nafees did not take part in the 50-over tournament but are looking forward to being part of the 20-over one and had to prove their fitness. 

"I came to the home of cricket after almost nine months. But I've been working on my fitness over the last two-and-a-half months. I've been doing regular gym sessions and tried to play in small local matches in Dhaka, whenever possible. I got a score of 11.4 in my fitness test and it would have been nice to get a higher score. But in the last three-four days I had a cold and couldn't give my very best here," Ashraful explained, despite putting in an impressive beep test score. 

"For the last two-three seasons, the Bangladesh selectors have set a benchmark for fitness. Previously, to play for the national team, you needed to have a beep test score of 10.5 whereas now for even domestic tournaments, you need a score of 11. It's a positive step in the right direction I feel. The best part is players who are playing domestic cricket have much better fitness now than they used to. We have some shortages when it comes to facilities but still, we saw that over 90% of the players taking part in the beep test got a score over 11," Nafees, who was impressed with the fitness of the players explained.