Pakistan Cricket Team has made padel a mandatory part of the fitness regimen at the National Cricket Academy based in Lahore. The PCB has reportedly told the players to take part in the session to improve their movement, agility, and reflexes.
This new rule has been brought into place by former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed, who is now the high-performance director with PCB. The 54-year-old said that most of the Pakistani players are already playing the sport regularly. He also added that since there were limited courts in Pakistan and cricketers had to travel long distances, new courts were built inside NCA.
Javed also said that cricketers needed to play padel for ’40 minutes’. He also revealed that there are plans to build basketball courts and other facilities to house indoor games. There is also an AI-enabled bowling machine installed in the facility to enable better practice. Test skipper Babar Azam is already renowned for playing padel and has been spotted competing with batter Imam-ul-Haq on a few occasions.
Pakistan’s tour match ends in a draw
Meanwhile, on the field, Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies began with a drawn game against a West Indies Select XI. The four-day encounter saw the visiting side batting first and scoring 455 before declaring their innings. Opener Azan Awais scored 100 off 241 balls while Azam scored 100 off 151 balls before both batters retired themselves.
Former skipper Shan Masood batted well to score 70, and Abdullah Fazal notched up 50 off 97 balls. In reply, the hosts were all out for 279 in their first innings as veteran seamer Mohammad Ali took 5/37 from his 15.5 overs. Tagenarine Chanderpaul amassed 51 runs, which came off 155 balls. Kavem Hodge top scored with 92 runs from 130 balls with 14 boundaries and a six.
The game ended in a draw as the visiting side scored 219 for four, with Salman Agha accumulating 52 while Awais Zafar top scored with 64. The first Test will be played at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, which begins on Saturday. The second Test will be played at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, starting on 2nd August.
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