ABBOTTABAD, June 10: The first phase of Pakistan cricket team’s training camp got underway with 18 of the 20 selected players reporting here on Sunday.

The camp was held in two sessions. The morning session was held at the Army School of Physical Training, Kakul, whereas the evening one was held at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

The players attending the camp are: Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Hafeez, Faisal Iqbal, Shoaib Malik, Naveed Latif, Shahid Afridi, Abdur Razzaq, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Sami, Najaf Shah, Kamran Akmal and Asim Kamal.

Mohammad Yousuf and Mohammad Asif will join the camp after returning from Afro Asia Cup duties in India on Wednesday.

Coaches Aaqib Javed, Haroon Rasheed and Mohtashim Rasheed along with manager Talat Ali are supervising the camp.

Assistant manager of the Abbottabad Regional Cricket Academy Shaukat Gul Khan Jadoon told Dawn that four pitches have been prepared to facilitate the training. He said the ground had fast outfield.

Jadoon said this was the first time when a national cricket camp was being organised in Abbottabad, which is 4,300 feet above the sea level, due to extreme hot summer temperatures in the country.

The PCB had acquired the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium to make it a cricket training centre in summer but the dream could not be fulfilled due to lack of facilities like four-star hotel demanded by the players.

The Army School of Physical Fitness however came to rescue by providing boarding facilities to the players. The venue had twice provided excellent base to the Pakistan hockey team last year.