The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has unveiled a comprehensive fitness policy for the 2025-26 domestic cricket season making fitness tests mandatory for all regional and departmental players.According to the new policy, strength and conditioning coaches appointed by the PCB will assess the fitness of around 400 regional players during the month of August. For the first time, the PCB will also oversee fitness testing of departmental teams, marking a shift in its approach to standardising physical benchmarks across all tiers of domestic cricket. 

The fitness policy further extends to players in Pathways and Age Group cricket, ensuring a uniform structure for evaluating athletic performance from the grassroots level upwards. Yasir Malik - Coach Strength and Conditioning at PCB - underscored the importance of the move, stating that all players will be required to pass the fitness test either in their first or second attempt. “Domestic cricket is the nursery of talent for the national side. We cannot afford to compromise on quality at this level,” he said.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)