The Pakistan Cricket Board will conduct fitness tests before issuing central contracts for the new season. The fitness tests will take place from September 6 to September 8 in Lahore, and the white-ball head coach, Gary Kirsten, physiotherapist and trainer, wil supervise the proceedings. The players will then depart for Faisalabad for the Champions Cup.

“The fitness tests and the performances with the bat and ball will decided which players get the central contract this year,” a reliable source in the board said.

“Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie have told the cricket board that they wouldn’t change their stance on fitness requirements. In fact, Gillispie was not happy with the fitness of Pakistan cricketers in the two-Test series against Bangladesh as they were not able to keep their intensity during all the sessions of the games,” the source added.

Kirsten had told the same things to PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi when the two met after the debacle in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

‘The fitness tests would include gym training, stamina, yo-yo, and other tests.”

The PCB had given central contracts to 27 players in the previous season, but this number would come down this time, given the performances of the players in the last year across formats.

Bangladesh defeated Pakistan 2-0 in the recently concluded Test series.