LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Syed Mohsin Naqvi has made it clear that he would not tolerate any grouping in the cricket team.

“I have zero tolerance as far as team discipline is concerned,” Mohsin Naqvi said while chairing a meeting, here at the National Cricket Academy on Monday.

Sources claimed that it was decided in the meeting to raise the standards of the game in the country as well as to improve the performance of the national team. It was also decided that each player would have to go through a fitness test every three months.

The sources also claimed that both Gillespie and Kirsten had been given free hand to get the desired results. It was also decided in the meeting that every player would be bound to play domestic cricket whose schedule would be announced by the selection committee. It was also agreed not to reduce the amount paid to players who are on central contract for the time being. Besides that, the contract period would be for one year.

The meeting decided that only those cricketers would be issued No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) for playing league cricket, who would meet the required criterion.

Stressing the need for unity and cohesion in the team, Naqvi said there would be no compromise on the violation of discipline. Announcing that high-performance centres would also be built in Islamabad and Peshawar, he said, Garry Kirsten and Jason Gillespie will submit report in this regard. He asked the concerned board officials that work should be done on emergent basis for the promotion of school cricket in the country. He also directed that work on improving the standards of pitches in the country should also start immediately. “There was tremendous huge talent in the country to produce the best players and the need is to spend as much as we can on budding players,” he said.

The PCB chairman also directed the concerned officials to submit a plan for the up-gradation of high-performance centres as well as improving the capacity of trainers to hone the skills of players.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024