Pakistan’s Test head coach, Jason Gillespie, has emphasized the importance of player fitness as a key priority in preparation for the upcoming Test series against England.
In a recent interview, Gillespie stated “We can’t afford to have players in international cricket who are not fit or strong enough to negotiate the rigours of the game. What I’ve learned from the Bangladesh series that we’ve got some wonderful players, but we need to be more consistent. We’ve got the skills but we need to keep fine-tuning them. There’s also been plenty of talks around fitness and we’re making sure that it’s a key component for us going forward”.
Appointed as Pakistan’s Test coach in April, the former Australian bowler is committed to helping the team regain its winning momentum after a disappointing 2-0 series loss to Bangladesh.
Pakistan is set to take on a strong England under the the somewhat revolutionary stweardship of Brendon McCullum in a three match Test series that will start on Monday. Despite the tough competition, Gillespie remains hopeful about Pakistan’s prospects.
Commenting on the upcoming series, he said, “I think we match up well against England. It’s going to be a challenging series. We know we are probably the underdogs, but we are excited to show what we can do.”