LAHORE, Aug 30: Inzamamul Haq, the Pakistan cricket captain, on Tuesday said that the conditions of fitness and discipline were not only for Shoaib Akhtar but this would be the selection criterion for every player.

Talking to reporters at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Inzamam said that the president of Pakistan had advised that all players would have to be super fit and disciplined to remain in the team.

President Pervez Musharraf, the PCB patron, has advised Inzamam during his briefing to be strict in discipline and reprimand indisciplined players whosoever he might be, including the temperamental fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.

Talking about England’s performance in the current Ashes series, Inzamam commented that they were playing well on their home soil and looked good but Pakistan were equally good enough to compete against them in the forthcoming home series.

“England have performed very well to emerge as a prominent side. But our players are equally good and training hard and would put a good fight in upcoming home series,” he added.

To a question about his fitness, Inzamam said that he suffered a minor groin injury during the recent Afro-Asian Cup but had made good progress since then and was training at the NCA.

Commenting about the players’ fitness, he said that all of them were in good shape.

“The ongoing training camp was just a fitness training session but not a full-fledged training session as the coaches are concentrating on the physical fitness of the players while batting and bowling training will be done in the next camp,” Inzamam maintained.

Inzamam said that he was not disappointed at not being selected for the World XI squad for the Super Series and added that it was a part of the game.

“However, I am training extremely hard and intend to give better performance in the current year. My target is to contribute maximum for the victory of the Pakistan team,” he concluded.—PPI