Wasim Akram accuses Pakistani players of eating biriyani ahead of World Cup

The fitness of Pakistani players has always been a major area of concern. And with less than two months remaining before the World Cup gets underway, the age-old problem has been hogging the limelight again. The latest high-profile name to comment on the issue is former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram who was a part of the team that won the World Cup in 1992 under the captaincy of Imran Khan.

What has further made things unpleasant for Pakistan is their form in the 50-over format. They have not managed to do well in ODIs since winning the Champions Trophy in 2017 against all the odds. In the last couple of years, they have lost ODI series against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia in addition to a dismal Asia Cup outing in September 2018. Their latest defeat came at the hands of Australia.

Despite playing in the familiar conditions of UAE, the Men in Green lost all the games in the five-match series. While they can defend themselves by saying that as many as six regular players of the team were rested but the performance against Australia was just too dismal.

Following the heavy loss, head coach Mickey Arthur had said that the clean sweep at home against Australia hurt the team incredibly. He had also raised concerns over the fitness level of the players, saying that it was not up to standard.

“I think on this tour, our fitness standards and our fielding were not where they needed to be,” Arthur had told the media. “That’s understandable when you see the likes of young Abid Ali, Hasnain, and guys like that hadn’t been in our setup before. Those that had been in our setup for a long period of time, who know what the standards are, are aware we will never ever compromise on fitness.

And now Wasim Akram has piled more pressure on the Pakistani team-management by claiming that the players are still being served biriyani, “Pakistani players are still being served biryani and you cannot compete against champions by feeding them biryani,” Wasim Akram said according to Pakistani journalist Sad Sajiq’s tweet.

Fitness camp

Meanwhile, Pakistan will conduct a fitness camp for the World Cup-bound players on April 15 and 16 at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. The Inzamam ul-Haq-led selection panel has already announced the 23-man shortlist for the World Cup who will attend the camp. Pakistan will announce their World Cup squad on April 18 before the team leaves for England for a series and the World Cup.

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