Pakistan cricket team’s head coach-cum-chief selector Misbah ul Haq was surprised by the fitness level and improved skills set of players despite such a lengthy lay-off due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

The 46-year-old claimed that players were getting better with each training session.

Talking to media via video link, Misbah said, “After a long time, all the players have come for practice. It is nice to see that the problems we were expecting have not happened even after such a long time,”

He added: “Overall, the players are physically fit while their skills are better than we expected. After training, they seem to be getting better. There are great facilities here and the boys are getting ample time. Overall, I think everyone is recovering everything very quickly.”

Revealing his plans for training for the England series, the former Pakistan captain said that they will play intra-squad game to get match-practice.

“As far as the matches go, we will try to pair them up and give them time in the middle. Every player should get one session. Five bowlers should be assigned a set of 90 overs for a day. We will try to move forward by pitting the squad against each other by making two teams. We will try to play four-day cricket in a similar manner,” he said.

As per the schedule of the series, the first Test will be played on August 5 in Manchester. Pakistan will play the remaining two games in Southampton, starting on August 13 and 21 respectively.

Pakistan will also play three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in Southampton on August 29, 31 and September 2.