PCB fines 4 cricketers for lack of fitness

Five of the players receive bonuses for being in form.

As per the Pakistan Cricket Board’s new policy of prioritising fitness, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Abdur Rehman and Raza Hasan have all been fined after they were found to be below the required fitness level, according to ESPNcricinfo.

The four players will each have a quarter of their monthly salary docked for four months. At the end of the four-month period, which started in August, the players will have to have their fitness levels reassessed.

The fitness levels of 28 players were to be assessed between September 6 and September 8. However, three of these players – Afridi, Wahab Riaz and Nasir Jamshed – could not be present due to personal reasons. Afridi’s fitness was tested on a later date but Riaz’s and Jamshed’s fitness is yet to be determined as they are currently representing the Lahore Lions at the ongoing Champions League Twenty20 in India.

Meanwhile, five players were given bonuses for maintaining a high level of fitness. Shan Masood and Umar Amin will receive 17.5% bonus every month for the next four months, while Misbahul Haq, Ahmed Shehzad and Bilawal Bhatti will receive 10% each for the same duration.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2014.

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