Former national captain Mohammad Ashraful and seasoned domestic campaigners Nasir Hossain failed in the beep test conducted by the Bangladesh Cricket Board ahead of the upcoming National Cricket League, reports Cricfrenzy.
BCB made beep test mandatory for all the players eyeing to take part in the NCL while in order to enhance the physical fitness board have raised the bench mark for the beep test.
Last year BCB introduced the fitness test in the NCL and it was decided that players getting nine points will be considered for the traditional first-class tournament but this year it had increased to 11 points and it had raised quite a few eyebrows as large numbers of cricketers complained that they have not got enough time to prepare them for the beep test as they were informed only couple of days back about this development
Mohammed Ashraful was one of the superstars of Bangladesh cricket but his involvement in match-fixing saga has left him out of cricket for long time.
Since returning back after completing his sanction in 2017 he is playing regularly in domestic cricket while he also played in the UK in the Kent League and as a result it was expected that he would pass the beep test but his failure came as a surprise to everyone.
He got only 9.7 with the standard remains 11.it was a surprise to lot of people because he told the media couple of days back that he played over 30 to 40 games in the Kent league and was in good shape in terms of fitness.
Nasir Hossain also failed to pass the fitness test scoring 9.7 and it was surprising too as he was considered one the fittest player in the circuit.
There is also some controversy between match fitness and beep fitness among the players but BCB want to change the fitness culture of the players and thus introduce beep fitness test.
Opener Tamim Iqbal took his fitness to a new height as he earned 12.1 in beep test. The beep-test score that he achieved during assessing his own fitness condition at the academy premises that marks huge improvement as far as his fitness is concerned that indicates he is keeping no stone unturned as far preparing him for the upcoming season.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan recently stated that they are not going to compromise an inch when it comes to fitness issues.
"We have noticed that the fitness of the national players are very poor. The coach [Russell Domingo] asked, 'What sort of fitness is this? I have never seen such fitness of players in South Africa'. We cannot suddenly increase the fitness-level requirements. We cannot reach the mark of 13 points [in the beep test] or even go above that,’’ Nazmul told media regarding their stand about fitness last week adding that they have decided to raise the bar of fitness from the upcoming domestic season.
While some of the seasoned domestic campaigners argued that it would have better if they were notified earlier regarding the beep test standard set for the upcoming season, it looked Tamim was determined to make an impact on his overall fitness knowing the importance of it to have a successful career ahead.
Earlier, Tamim was reluctant to take part in the beep test when the national team used to assess the condition of players fitness and instead he opted to take part in the 2K running test to assess his fitness level.
But this time round he seemed determined to walk the extra mile to make sure that he is hundred percent fit ahead of the upcoming season while his preparation for the tour of India will start through taking part in the National Cricket League, country’s traditional first-class tournament, beginning from September 7.
However, Tamim had to give a lot to raise his fitness standard and according to some if his close associates he worked heavily in the recent past as he opted for a break from national duty during the just concluded one-match Test series against Afghanistan and following tri-nation that involved Zimbabwe as the third team.
The left-handed opener had lost five kg weight by taking part in the rigorous fitness regime in Bangkok coupled by maintain a strict diet though he is now used with the carb-free diet that he is maintaining for quite some time now.
According to Tamim his inspiration to have a proper chart to maintain high-scale fitness comes from seeing Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his team mates Mushfiqur Rahim while his aspiration to develop his fitness came since the 2015 World Cup when former head coach Chandika Hathurusingha raised the fitness issue and asked him to focus on his fitness.
